Meet Los Angeles International Airport's N.I.C.E.™ Problem Solvers

301

Traffic

Raymond S

Sgt Jackson

A woman approached traffic officer Raymond S on the Arrivals level very upset. She leaned out the window of her car and was nearly incoherent as she told of her concern for her daughter’s safety. Raymond used his engagement skills to calm her by walking over to her window on the driver’s side and adopting a calm voice. She told him she was worried because she couldn’t find her daughter and he told her not to worry that he would help her.

He asked her questions in a calm voice and gradually he discovered that she had arrived at the airport two hours earlier to pick up her young daughter who was flying into LAX alone and had been driving around hoping to see her daughter at the arrivals curb. When she called the airline and learned that her daughter’s flight had landed nearly an hour earlier she went into a panic.

Raymond reassured her he would help. He was proactive. First, he suggested she park her car and directed her where to do that. Then he told her she should come back to him. She thanked him for his concern, and when she returned after parking the car he walked her to a monitor. He showed her where she could find the carousel for her daughter’s flight. He told her she might well find her daughter waiting there, he said, and if not she should come back and they would try another approach to solve the problem.

But no need. She found her daughter by the carousel, where the baggage had been delayed. The woman was calm now as she told Raymond how embarrassed she was for being hysterical, and she thanked him for being so patient.

He said, “No problem, ma’am. That’s what I’m here for."

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300

CSR

Carol H.

Marie O'Kelly Green

It was one of those busy summer days!

Traffic started early and continued to build – then suddenly, power went down in T-2 and passenger anxieties spiraled upward as lines grew longer and travelers snaked outside the terminal. Carol Harding, a Customer Service Agent, rose to the occasion, as she is well known to do. She was proactive and interjected herself into situations with travelers using their faces and stressed expressions as her guide.

She engaged travelers before they could express frustrations and her arms looked like a windmill as she pirouetted on the terminal floor directing anxious travelers to airport employees and airline reps she believed could help them. “Thank you, thank you,” they called over their shoulders as she waved, “happy to do it,” then she turned to the next group needing help.

Throughout the incident she continued to work non stop, then just as things began to calm down a call came from her supervisor: “Carol, can you come quick, they need you over in T 1 to help with congestion.”

Pirouetting again, this time in the direction of T 1, Carol was off to provide her high level of quality service to the next group of LAX customers in need, as she is well-known to do.

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299

Traffic

Airport Police

Don Shaw

We had a situation today which was well handled by the non-emergency police unit and we wanted to pass it along. A very distressed passenger came to the booth. She had her elderly father and two children with her. She had left her car with LAX Valet Service, but when she returned from her trip and called their number she got a disconnect. We called the number with the same result and then checked with Information which gave us a second number.

Same result.

We called Airport Police non-emergency to see if they had any information. They immediately sent an officer – a great service touch! - who gave the woman a ride to Airport Valet on Sepulveda and Westchester Expressway. The family stayed with us. When the woman returned with the car she said the Valet’s phones were not operating. She was very grateful for the prompt, helpful response of the AP police. Indeed!

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298

VIP

Lupe R.

Coordinator

A mother who had come to America from the Phillippines ahead of her teenage daughter returned to LAX to pick up her daughter when she realized, but she realized she had a big problem. The mother had promised her daughter, who was traveling alone, that she would be at the airline gate to meet her daughter when she got off the plane, but because the arrival gate was behind security the mother realized she could not fulfill that promise.

In addition, the mother was carrying a 2-year-old child and got very anxious as she rushed around Tom Bradley terminal looking for help, when she spotted our volunteer, Lupe R. Immediately, Lupe calmed the mother by focusing her full attention on her and using body language to let her know that she would do whatever she could to help.

The mother told Lupe how upset her teenage daughter would be if she got off the plane and did not see her. Lupe continued to explain how she understood and not to worry.

Lupe was proactive and got the name of the airline. Then she rushed over to the carrier to find a representative who could intercede. Lupe explained the situation, impressing on the representative how upset the mother was and how important it was to ensure that someone be at the gate when the plane arrived. This calmed the mother, to see how active Lupe was on her behalf, and to see the lengths Lupe was going to to follow up and get action.

Ultimately, the daughter was met when the plane arrived and the rep who met her explained how soon she would be seeing her mother. The mother emailed LAX to say how impressed she was with Lupe’s leadership and to commend LAX for having volunteers who show such great concern for airport customers.

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297

PilotGroup

Ben C

Sgt Holcomb

One day Ben noticed a young girl standing by the doorway at TBIT. When he passed a while later he saw her standing in the same spot. When he passed yet again, he saw that she had tears in her eyes and he walked over to introduce himself as an airport operations employee and he asked if she was OK.

In her late teens the girl trembled as she told how upset and anxious she was. She said she was due to fly to Australia, then connect for a flight home to New Zealand, but he traveling companion, whom she had met working at a Christian summer camp that summer, had not shown to meet her at their prearranged spot.

Ben calmed her with a smile, and started to brainstorm with her on things they could do. She said she had been so excited because it was her plan to fly home early to surprise her parents, but now she feared that she might miss her flight because she was committed to wait for her friend, and she didn’t know what to do.

Ben suggested she try calling her friend and he gave her his cell phone. The girl called, but not luck. Her friend did not answer. Then Ben was proactive and suggested she try her Facebook page to see if her friend had tried contacting her that way. Again no luck.

Next Ben took her to her carrier’s counter, and with the help of an airline rep they were able to determine that the friend had already checked in and was waiting – probably just as anxiously – at the gate.

Now the young girl beamed and thanked Ben profusely. He helped get her checked in, then walked with her to the security area where she smiled as wide as she could and thanked him for taking such grand care of her and making such a wonderful impression of LA and LAX for her.

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296

PilotGroup

Hyder S

Mark Logan

One August day a distressed passenger traveling to Guangzhou, China came to the TBIT Information counter for help. The passenger had arrived the night before on a domestic carrier with a connecting flight on her China carrier to her destination. Unfortunately due to weather, she arrived late at LAX and missed the connecting flight. Ticketing at her connecting carrier was closed and so she spent the night in TBIT.

Before seeking help at the Information Counter, the passenger placed several calls to both her domestic and Chinese carriers but was unable to secure any further re-booking assistance. The passenger then turned to LAWA for help.

Hyder, an Airport Ops, was assigned to walk her through the re booking processes with her airlines. After several hours of standing in line and ticket counters, placing several phone calls on the passengers behalf, the passenger secured a ticket and returned home that afternoon on a flight to China.

I would like to thank Hyder for his efforts in resolving the issue for this passenger and congratulating him on a job well done, especially the great care, patience and ongoing concern he showed.

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295

PilotGroup

Manny M.

Supervisor: D’Ann McCoy-Snearl and Paul Adams

I was on my way to lunch when a couple walked out of Terminal 7 and approached me looking very confused and anxious. They asked if I could help them and I did my usual in that case, I always show the customer a big smile and an “open for business face.”

The couple said they were on their way to the east coast but with all the thunderstorms back east their flight was delayed and they didn’t want to just sit around. They wondered if I had any ideas on how they could spend their time productively.

I said, absolutely, and this relaxed them further. Then I said my suggestion would depend on how much time they had: when travelers have at least ten hours I told them I suggest going south to Redondo Beach on the trolley which departs Century Blvd every 25 minutes, or north to Venice Beach on the C Shuttle. Both places offer beach scenes, great restaurants, tourist shops and even jugglers.

They smiled and said, “Boy, we found the right guy.” I told them I was proud to know all abour our local attractions. They said, “We see that.” But they said they had only five hours not ten and wanted something to eat but something memorable to see as well. I told them if they took the “G” bus and walked one block north after they got off at Greenline Station, there was a restaurant called “The Proud Bird.” It had vintage airplanes on the lawn and they could tell all their friends back east about that.

They said, “Wow!” and said they had never expected to meet such a well-informed travel agent, but they were happy they did. They said they would go to the place with vintage planes, but what they would tell their friends about was how helpful LAX workers are.

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294

PilotGroup

Lillian L.

Supervisor: Silveria Silva

Lillian L. is an Accounting Clerk II in the Accounts Payable Section. Here's her story:

A vendor was highly distressed. Hers was a small company and she had not received payment for two invoices that were overdue and she was very emotional. It just happened by chance that she got me on the phone when she called, but I could hear the distress in her tone, and I told her I would help her.

She told me she needed the money for her breast cancer treatment and she was worried she wouldn’t have the money in time and she was distraught. I asked her if she could give me time to investigate and this calmed her down.

I did my research and I found that during the processing of her invoices there had been a delay back at the division level where she had performed her services. That happens sometimes during the review process, but now instead of being on top of the pile for immediately payment, her invoices were still in the middle of the pile awaiting further review. I knew this meant she would not be getting paid, and that’s when I took it upon myself to act.

I called the division where the invoices had originated and explained the situation. I told them I didn’t care how long it took I was prepared to do whatever was needed on my end and together we finished up the review process. Then the next step was auditor’s approval. I walked to the auditors and explained the situation to them, laying out all the details of my investigation, and the auditors were able to sign off.

Then I called the lady back and I gave her the happy news that soon she would be getting her check and I hoped that would help her. Her voice was full of joy now, and that made me happy that I had been lucky enough to have a chance to help her.

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293

PilotGroup

Sam N

Supervisor

Sam Nene, who works in the VNY Airport Manager's Office received a phone call from a distraught UCLA student who forgot her purse on Van Nuys Flyaway bus when she disembarked at LAX Terminal 1. The young woman was in tears as she had cash, credit cards, and California driver license in the lost purse. She was scheduled to leave on a flight to San Francisco within 1 ½ hours and she was beside herself.

Immediately, Sam swung into action and reassured the customer that he would do whatever he could to locate her lost purse. He got the customer's call back cell phone number then went to work. After contacting Van Nuys Flyaway bus dispatch operator in the Long Beach Office and the Flyaway bus driver on the radio, the purse was located before the bus reached the Terminal 7 at the end of LAX CTA.

Sam described the customer and contents to the dispatcher and bus driver and instructed the bus driver to look for the customer in Terminal 1 departure level while simultaneously contacting the customer to go on the departure level to meet with the bus driver. The customer ran to the departure level curbside and took possession of the purse by identifying items inside the purse. Within 25-30 minutes, the lost purse was located and returned to the owner at Terminal 1.

After going through the security lines and before boarding the airplane, the customer called Sam to thank him for helping her through this ordeal. Sam noted the joy in the voice of the customer and was thankful for the opportunity to serve the LAWA customer in times of crisis.

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292

PilotGroup

Sam N

Flora Margheritis

Sam received a phone call from a Van Nuys Flyaway customer who needed assistance. The PAX was upset because she could not locate her carrier's departure gate/terminal at LAX. The customer attempted to contact the airlines but could not locate a live person to find out departure gate for the woman's outbound flight to Oregon.

Sam secured the customer's phone number and assured her that he would call her with accurate information asap. By contacting the airlines directly after verifying the flight information on LAWA.org website, Sam emailed the information to the customer and also provided the information over the phone. The customer thanked Sam for his prompt response and sent him thank you emails.

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291

Traffic

Monique O

Sgt Turner

It was late a night when traffic officer Monique O was approached by a female traveler who could not locate her car. The traveler had parked in a lot across from the terminals, but she got confused after returning home and could not find her vehicle.

After wandering around the airport for an hour and half, she was in tears. That’s when she approached Monique who calmed her by speaking softly and assuring the woman she would stay with her until they could find her car.

Monique was proactive and radioed to a police unit, which was able to connect her with parking. Using the patron’s name, vehicle information and the date and time the traveler had come to the airport, Monique and staff on the other end of the phone were successful in locating the garage and the area in the garage where the car was parked.

The patron was still crying, but she calmed down as Monique continued to reassure her that the problem was almost solved, and she calmed down further as Monique walked with her to the appropriate parking garage at to an area at Pillar 6-A.

Now the woman brightened totally and cried out for joy as they spotted her car and she continued to thank Monique over and over for her “rescue,” as she called it and after a hundred more thank you’s, she drove away.

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290

PilotGroup

Maggie Y

Eric L

Maggie Y, a graphic designer, was walking through the terminals one day when a woman approached her very upset. The woman could not speak English, but she showed with her body language and signals that she was lost and couldn’t find her way to her connecting flight.

Maggie interrupted what she was doing and adapted to the woman’s need. She smiled, which calmed the woman, and then she spoke Chinese to her, which really brightened her, since that was her language. Maggie made her feel comfortable and walked her to the shuttle bus that would take her to her appropriate carrier for her connecting flight.

The woman thanked Maggie over and over for her kindness, and said how “lucky” she was to find someone who could speak Chinese.

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289

PilotGroup

Robert U

Elias C

Robert U, who works in LAWA’s parking services unit, had a customer who was upset because he wanted to make a parking purchase outside the scope of technically what was permitted.

Robert engaged him and told him not to worry, that he would stay with him until the matter was settled and immediately the customer calmed down. Then Robert took him through the procedures and showed him options on how together they could accomplish what the man wanted, helping him get his need met through an alternate route, and this settled the man down fully.

Then Robert was proactive and designed a solution that was acceptable to the man, though it wasn’t what he wanted originally, but in the end satisfied him.

“I’m totally happy now, “ the man said, and Robert told him that was the goal.

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288

PilotGroup

Dee L

Diane S

Dee L, an airport guide at Van Nuys, got a call from an outraged airport neighbor who complained that there was a pothole in her road and she blamed an airport contractor for causing it.

Immediately Dee calmed her by keep her tone calm and explained that she would do everything she could to investigate the situation and find a solution. Dee assured the woman she would get back to her, then Dee called the city and found a person who could get involved and check out the situation and find the right solution.

Dee called the resident back and got her email and emailed her the name of the city’s contact person. A bit later Dee received a thank you email back from the resident explaining that that approach had worked. The resident thanked Dee for getting involved and providing leadership for the solution.

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287

PilotGroup

Stella B

Frances B

Stella B, who works in Facilities planning, was walking across the airport on her way home when a woman approached her. The lady was very upset because her flight had arrived early and her cell phone had died. She had no way to contact the person coming to pick her up and she was distraught.

Though she was on her way home, Stella never hesitated to help the lady. She engaged the woman in conversation, which calmed her, and Stella offered to let the woman use her cell phone. The woman did, but no luck, she could not get through to her friend and left a message that she had arrived and left word about her location.

When Stella learned the lady was trying to get to downtown LA, Stella brainstormed with her on several ground transportation options she could take, using her knowledge of all the various service providers. But the woman said she did not want to take a bus.

The woman thanked Stella for all the trouble, especially for her kindness and concern. Rather than think of herself and her own need to get home, Stella continued to reassure the woman that she would be all right if she chose to wait for her friend. The woman said the big airport was confusing to her, and a bit scary, but just having someone like Stella she could turn to for help was all she needed. In the end she chose to wait for her friend, but she touched Stella’s hand to say thank you, and now she was calm.

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286

PilotGroup

KATHRYN K

Supervisor - Yvonne M

Kathryn K, who works in Airport Development, was approached by a fellow employee who needed to get a FedEx out. The person was agitated because the deadline for FedEx pick up was coming. The person did not work in Kathryn’s area, but Kathryn recognized him as a fellow employee in the Division and offered to help. She took the package and made sure that it went out that day, then even followed up the next day to confirm that delivery had been made – and sent work to her colleague, as an example of true internal customer service.

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285

PilotGroup

Thomas T

Nancy C

Thomas T, an employee in Public Relations, was on his way back to his office when he noticed a woman who appeared very frazzled. He walked over to see if she needed help. She got very animated and though she could not speak English very well, Thomas was able to decipher that she had come in late on a flight and needed to make a connection. Someone had sent her to the wrong terminal and she was nearly in tears as Thomas sought to comfort her. She continued to wave her arms because she was afraid she would miss her connecting flight.

Thomas calmed her, using body language and a smile. He reassured her that he would help her. Instead of heading to his office, he guided her in the right direction and walked her to the proper terminal for her connecting flight.

He stayed with her until she was calm and confident that she was in the right line to check in for her flight, and assured that she was going to be fine and would make the flight. She tried to offer Thomas $20, but he smiled again and said, no, no, no, he was just doing his job and seeing her happy was all he needed to make him happy.

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283

Traffic

Alan M

Sgt Jackson

One evening a man approached Traffic Officer Alan M and asked for directions to a bus stop. He handed Alan a piece of paper with an address on it, and Alan interrupted what he was doing to help the man.

Alan used his cell phone to access the internet to identify the most effective bus route, but as he did so, he noticed that the man seemed increasingly confused. Rather than send him to the bus stop alone, Alan called dispatch to see if he could get the man a ride to that area to catch his bus. Then Alan engaged the man in conversation to learn more about him since the man’s continued confusion concerned Alan. When the man became upset for no reason, Alan relied on his training and called for police assistance to help determine the man’s real issue.

Through that process Alan and the police learned that the man was a “Missing Person” from Montebello with medical issues. Their investigation showed that the man’s father was distraught looking for his son. To make a long story short, through leadership, professional instinct and pride in doing his job well, Alan and airport police were able to turn the man over to the custody of a Montebello police officer who succeeded in reuniting the missing man with his father.

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282

MSD

Erick B

Marie O'Kelly Green

Erick was working on a landscaping project across from the Arrivals level when a passenger approached him and asked for assistance.

Immediately, Erick put down his work tools and focused intently on the passenger, who said he needed to get to Santa Monica. The man asked Erick if he knew the right bus to take, and not only did Erick know the bus route, he knew the fare and the best place for the man to catch the bus and the fastest way to get there.

The passenger’s huge smile showed not only his appreciation, but how impressed he was. I must admit that I was impressed too with Erick's thorough knowledge of the bus system, how confidently he interacted with the passenger, and how eagerly he stepped forward to be helpful.

Erick works for Facilities Maintenance, but I can say he provided customer service comparable to our Customer Service Representatives who are trained for that kind of interaction with PAX. Erick is a tribute to the professionalism of the Maintenance Services Division and their commitment to the two jobs they have – keeping the grounds impeccable and meeting our airport customers’ needs, whatever they are.

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281

Traffic

Alan M

Sgt Jackson

One evening a man approached Traffic Officer Alan Mora and asked for directions to a bus stop. He handed Alan a piece of paper with an address on it, and Alan interrupted what he was doing to help the man.

Alan used his cell phone to access the internet to identify the most effective bus route, but as he investigated, he noticed that the man seemed increasingly confused. Rather than send him to the bus stop alone, Alan called dispatch to see if it might be possible to get the man a ride to the area where he could catch the bus. Showing concern for the man, Alan engaged him in conversation to learn more about him, and when the man became increasingly confused, Alan called for police back up to come by.

Through that process Alan and the police learned that the man was a “Missing Person” from Montebello with medical issues. Their investigation showed that the man’s father was distraught looking for him, but through Alan’s conscientious effort and his pride in doing his job well, they were able to turn the man over to the custody of a Montebello police officer who succeeded in reuniting the man and his father.

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280

Bus

Tom P

Theresa Saunders

Tom P, a LAWA bus driver, found a backpack under the table in the bus drivers’ lunch room. Inside, he found school work and school books with a flyer inside for a fund raiser for a school that apparently the little girl who owned the back pack attended.

Tom called the school and told them the situation and told them the name of the little girl whose name was on the backpack. Tom explained who he was, a LAWA employee, and asked for the school’s help so he could get the backpack returned. The school gave him a phone number and a woman answered. Again, Tom explained the situation and the woman let out a happy cry of joy! The mother said that the backpack belonged to her 6-year-old daughter, Hailey.

“Hailey has been devastated since she left the backpack on an Airfield bus during a school field trip to the airport,” her mom said. “She thought she would never see the bag again. All her prize possessions are in the backpack.”

Tom smiled at the thought of what “prize possessions” means to a 6-year-old girl, but he was delighted he could make her happy.

Theresa Saunders, Airfield Bus Operations Supervisor mailed the package back to Hailey, and the young girl had her possessions back because Tom took the time to care.

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279

PilotGroup

Hugh T

Karen Tozer

A customer (bidder) was upset because he had not received a copy of a bid for a tires contract. At that time, LAWA was still maintaining list of bidders by industrial category and mailing out bids. He was very vocal on the phone with me about being a small local business owner and having been denied a business opportunity.

I used the following strengths from the my personal resiliency profile to solve the problem. I engaged him by offering to meet with him in person at our office to go over what could have happened and what could be done in the future and he accepted. My explanation to him was that we rotate buyers and the commodities they purchase and there is always a chance with a novice buyer that he/she will not use the established list of bidders for tires.

I was adaptable, optimistic and pro-active by offering him apologies for the mistake and showing him that there were other opportunities for bid, such another contract coming up for the Ontario airport and the City of Los Angeles (I researched on the computer in front of him the likely dates for these new bids) , small purchases below $1,000 done directly by the fleet office (I give him the name and telephone number of the subbuyer at fleet).

The customer left happy, saying thanks for the time I spent with him and for having a better knowledge of on-going bidding opportunities.

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276

MSD

Alicija G

Supervisory staff

I was part of a crew that needed to cut back branches on trees near Parking A so that a paving crew could follow in behind us. The paving crew was set to come in 20 minutes and I along with our team was focused on internal customer service. We knew how much the paving crew was dependent on us and we got on top of our truck and cut and cut and cut with our chain saws. We worked like crazy to clean up the debris also, and we got it done in time - so our teammates could do their jobs.

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275

MSD

N. Pineto

Leonore

A couple was lost and very upset. They had set out from the airport to walk to their hotel and got lost by the time they came over to me. They called to me while I was working, and I could see how upset they were. I calmed them down by showing them that I was interested to help. They couldn't speak English, but I used sign language to figure out the problem - which was that they were about three miles away from where they needed to go!

I could see they were exhausted, and I showed them my phone, and showed them that was going to call their hotel, and I did. I gave the story to the hotel and the hotel sent a shuttle over to get the couple. I kept them calm, till the shuttle came and they really brightened up when they saw that shuttle.

They thanked me in Chinese!

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274

MSD

Ramon G

Supervisory staff

A couple was very upset because they could not find their car in Parking Lot B. They approached me and I stopped what I was doing to help them. After I listened to them this calmed them down and finally i was able to realize that they weren't parked in Lot B after all, but what they were describing sounded like Lot C. As it turned out that was the truth, and they were so happy that i had taken the time to help them.

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273

MSD

Chris G.

Leonore

I was doing my work when a couple asked me to take their picture together in front of the airport's LAX sign. Immediately I stopped what I was doing and showed them a big smile and told them I would be very happy to do that. A small thing, maybe, but it was a big thing to them!

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272

MSD

Pedro

Uriel Matus

I was working when a traveler in a car shouting over to me asking if I would help him. I stopped what I was doing and listened to him describe how he couldn't find where to return his rental car and he was very upset and agitated because he was afraid he was going to miss his flight. I understood why he was upset and I took a moment to show him where he needed to go, and made sure he understood. Thank you, he said, and quickly he drove off, but I felt good I had helped him.

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271

MSD

Milton G

Uriel Matus

There was a truck driver driving the wrong direction looking for an address on El Segundo. When he called over to me I interrupted what I was doing and showed him by my body language that I was interested to help him. When he told me the address I realized he was heading north when he needed to go south. I not only told him how to go, but I took an extra moment to give him landmarks to make sure he wouldn't get lost again. He was so appreciative, he kept saying thank you, thank you.

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270

PilotGroup

Monique B

Barbara Y

Travelers from all over the world have questions when it comes to navigating the large landscape of LAX – and often they have these questions even BEFORE they arrive. That’s why LAX has an “Infoline,” and LAX is gifted to have Monique Bell as the person running the operation.

The questions into Monique’s desk run non stop, and include requests such as “I will be reaching LAX at 7:25 am from Tucson, after connecting in Tucson from JFK, and I would like to know if my JFK connection is late getting into Tucson and my Tucson flight to LAX is late too, will I have time to make my next connection in LA?”

As you can see the questions can get complex and often require Monique to be a “detective” to get at the heart of the question and the person’s need so she can get them a satisfactory answer. But always she does, and she will open up long and extended conversations over the computer and phone with her “guests,” as she consider all those who reach out to her.

Other questions involve parking, not only the best places to park to ensure the shortest walk to the terminal, but also the cost of parking. And she’ll get lost wallet, computer and iphone inquiries, as well as requests for tours and even long and involved questions about how to read the airport map, along with where’s the best place to get French food or a bagel.

But at times Monique needs to shift into a serious mode too, as was the case one day – her proudest achievement, she said – when someone contacted infoline with a threat to the airport, and she was able to loop in the police and help get police apprehend the person.

Service and security. All in a day’s work, with hundreds upon hundreds of inquiries a week – all of them satisfied customers, because of Monique’s special skills, commitment and passion for the airport and its customers.

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269

Traffic

Jose Luis Miranda

Lt Hill

It was Thanksgiving evening and things were very busy on the curb. I was directing traffic at Terminal 5 when a car pulled up and the driver stopped. I walked over and told him politely that it was against regulations to wait at the curb. I explained that the rule was in effect for everyone’s safety. He didn’t say anything, and drove up another 30 feet and stopped again.

Again, I walked over to him and I smiled, a little bit bigger this time. I motioned to him to roll down his window so I could show him something, and he started yelling at me.

I used my engagement skills and I spoke softly as I said, no, no, calm down. I told him, “I want to give you a coffee coupon to thank you for complying.”

“Wha?” he said.

I told him to help everyone get home and enjoy Thanksgiving, we had coffee coupons to thank drivers for complying with the rules and helping us keep traffic flowing in front of the terminals.

He was stunned, and he just stared at me. “I thought you were going to give me a ticket,” he said.

“No, coffee coupon,” I said, and I handed him the coupon.

At that point, his passenger arrived and hopped in the car, but the driver just kept staring at me. Then he apologized and drove on.

Courtesy mission accomplished!

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268

AirportCenter

Henry K

Viji Prasad

In the early morning hours of Dec 10, Airport Superintendent of Operations Henry K. was conducting a routine facility inspection of Terminal 7 when he came across an inbound international passenger from Russia who was confused and lost in the arrivals area.

Henry used his resiliency skills to engage the traveler and found she had been waiting an hour for her hotel shuttle at the curbside. The shuttle runs continuously every thirty (30) minutes, but the airport was confusing to the traveler and the shuttle and passenger did not connect. In addition, the passenger did not know how to contact the hotel on the Courtesy Phone network.

Henry proceeded to use his Ops Duty Phone to find the number for the hotel and proceeded to contact the hotel directly for the pick-up. Henry stayed with passenger until the hotel shuttle picked her up.

Henry is one of the newest members of the LAWA family. He used his keen observations skills and his understanding of the passenger’s body language. He could tell she was distraught, unsure of what to do and scared of being at the airport so late at night. Then he was engaging and calmed her, and he was proactive and solved the problem.

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266

Traffic

G. Leibscher

Coordinator

While working traffic control at terminal 7, I stepped inside a moment and hear a man yell at an airline representative. The man was really upset about his bag being lost and demanded action from the rep. The rep told the passenger that if he did not stop yelling she would end the conversation. He didn’t stop, and she told him "This conversation is over, I'm calling the police.”

I used my resiliency skills to step in and be proactive. I separated the irate passenger from the rep and I asked the passenger what the problem was.

He said the airline and had taken his bag at the gate and gave him a claim ticket. Now he had the claim check and they couldn’t tell him where the bag was. I asked the Rep what happen and she said it was possible that the passenger was late for his flight and to accommodate him, they had checked his bag at the gate. She said the passenger needed to file a claim with the customer service department not her.

The passenger just wanted a contact number and an explanation for the lost bag, since he was worried about personal valuables in it. Obviously there was a communication issue. I was proactive and stepped in to calm the situation. I obtained the airline’s customer service number for the man and explained to him what he needed to do and this helped resolve the matter.

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265

Traffic

Ofc G. Leibscher

While working traffic control at terminal 7, I stepped inside a moment to do paperwork and heard a man yell at an airline representative. The man was really upset about his bag being lost and demanded action from the rep. The rep told him that if he did not stop yelling she would end the conversation. He didn’t stop, and she told him that "This conversation is over, I'm calling the police.”

I was proactive and stepped in to separate the irate passenger from the rep and I asked the passenger what the problem was. He said the airline and had taken his bag at the gate and had given him a claim ticket. Now he had the claim check but they couldn’t tell him where the bag was. I asked the Rep what happen and she said it was possible that the passenger was late for his flight and to accommodate him, they had checked his bag at the gate. She said the passenger needed to file a claim with the customer service department not her.

The passenger just wanted a contact number and an explanation for the lost bag, since he was worried about personal valuables in it. Obviously there was a communication issue going on so I took it upon myself to obtain the airline’s customer service number for the man. Then I explained to him what he needed to do and this helped resolve the matter.

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264

CSR

Joyce W

Turkan Y

A woman’s flight was cancelled and she approached me very upset. She was elderly and crying. She said everyone on the cancelled flight had been told they needed to get a hotel for the night and they were all directed to the Red shuttle bus area, but she was confused, and the tears started all over again.

I used my comforting skills and I told her not to worry that I would help her, and I used my cell phone to explore several hotel options to get her one close by and inexpensive, and this calmed her down, once she saw me working on her behalf.

I found a hotel that was acceptable to her and I took her to the Red shuttle area and because she was elderly – she told me she was about to turn 80 – I waited with her and continued to chat with her to make her feel welcome at our airport.

Then I helped her onto the bus and made sure the driver knew where to take her, and I made sure she understood where to return to the next morning, and by now she was smiling, and very pleased. She said thank you, but just helping her and seeing her relax was all the thanks that I needed.

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263

Traffic

D. S.

Sgt Goodman

A couple approached me and they were very upset because their connecting flight was to leave in an hour and they were totally lost. I could see how upset they were and even though I was busy on the curb with traffic I took a moment to explain to them that they were at the wrong terminal, but I showed them how to catch the shuttle to get to the right place to catch their flight. They kept thanking me all the way to the shuttle as they ran to catch it.

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262

Traffic

Gabriel B

Sgt Santos

While i was directing traffic a passenger and his wife approached me to complain that their luggage had been damaged during the flight they had just come in on. I engaged them and explained that I was with the traffic police but I understood their concern and I took time to explain them how they could get to their air carrier to bring the damage to the airline's notice - and that would help them. They were very appreciative for the time I took to pay attention to their problem.

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261

CSR

Irene Y

Richardo V

While working Terminal 2 Arrivals, two passengers from a Toronto flight approached me. They where husband and wife and where in a frantic mood. I asked what the problem was and they told me that their 7 year old granddaughter was missing. I remained calm and asked them where they had last seen their granddaughter and they told me they last saw her in the departures level in Terminal 2.

I asked them to wait there and I went upstairs to look for the granddaughter. I noticed a little girl wondering around the terminal by herself and approached her. I asked if she was lost and she replied by telling me that she could not find her grand parents. I then answered by telling her not to worry that I had found them and went back down with the little girl.

When I gave the little girl back to the grandmother she told me that now her husband was missing. She said he was so worried about the granddaughter that he went to the departure level to look for her. It almost felt like dejavous and I went back upstairs without giving it a second thought and located the grandfather.

Finally after much searching the whole family was reunited. The couple could not thank me enough. They hugged me and shook my hand. They told they didn't know what they would have done if I wasn't there.

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260

Badging

Jaqueline McM

Beatrice Stephens-Ford

Ms. Stephens – Ford,

I hope you’re the correct person to send this to. I’m the General Manager of Operations for DAL Global Services. We’re a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and we’re headquartered in Atlanta, GA. We recently entered the LAX market and the positions require a SIDA badge.

I’m the Issuing Officer/Authorizing Agent in ATL for SIDA badges and have spent many years working with our local badge office. We have offices in several other cities and those also require SIDA badges. I share this with you to allow you to see the exposure I have had with various badge offices across the US. In all of these experiences I have NEVER had the level of customer service, professionalism and knowledge that Jacquelyn has illustrated. She makes working with the SBO a fun and informative experience.

In today’s society it is pretty rare to find someone like Jacqueline. We’re fortunate she was assigned to us as our badge coordinator and look forward to our continued working relationship.

Lisa Click
General Manager - Operations
Delta Global Staffing

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259

Badging

Melody U

Beatrice Stephens-Ford

Good afternoon Ms. Stephens-Ford,

I just wanted to take a moment to bring to your attention the excellent service one of your employees recently provided. I recently returned from vacation and of course realized that I needed to renew my AOA ID as soon as possible as I was working through the weekend and it was already Friday.

I also work the night shift so it is usually difficult to get in to the badging office early enough to have my badge taken care of. I am sure you are regularly faced with employees in a rush and looking to have their needs met immediately. Ms Melody Ugalde was the badging employee assisting me and she went out of her way to ensure that I was badged prior to your office closing.

Having worked here at LAWA for over 17 years I understand how difficult it is to provide consistently superior service to our staff and tenants so I thought it important to bring this to your attention.

She was patient, efficient and provided the excellent customer service that I am sure you pride yourself on as a supervisor of this office. I wanted to thank you for employing such a professional staff and Ms Ugalde for the excellent customer service she provided.



Sergeant Tarek Azmy
Los Angeles Airport Police - Patrol Services Watch 3

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258

CSR

Navin B

Linda P-C

Navin was working the arrivals desk. A 20 year old female passenger approached him saying her credit card would not work. She had forgotten to activate her card for America. She could not take a shuttle to her hotel in Fullerton, because she had no cash. Navin allowed the young woman to use his cell to call Germany and activate her card. The woman had been crying and stopped and was so appreciative. She was now able to begin her vacation in the US.

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257

CSR

Jan L

Jose R

I saw that an elevator was out in TBIT and I called Maintenance. When I passed a while later I saw that it was still not working and I asked my supervisors permission if I could go across to one of the Maintenance offices and see if the order was being worked on.

I got permission and as I was walking I came across a famly with many suitcases and a stroller. They looked a bit lost and so I was proactive and engaged them. I asked them where they were heading and they told me the carrier and I could see they were going in the wrong direction – so I corrected them and pointed them in the right direction.

Then I proceeded on with my internal service issue to get the elevator repair moving.

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256

BRM

Dawn H

David Jones

Dawn, a LAWA, Business Relationship Manager, continually provides exemplary service to passengers, clients and internal staff. Specific Example:

A traveler through TBIT was struggling w/ luggage and dropped her tray of food in the busy food court in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

Dawn, who was there on business, witnessed the incident while walking through the terminal while giving a tour to prospective concessions operators. She stopped the tour, excused herself and rushed to assist the passenger with her luggage and arranged for clean-up of the spill area. Next, Dawn accompanied the passenger back into the food court and arranged for her to receive a replacement meal at no charge.

The customer left happy saying thank you, but when she got home she wrote a long personal note of thanks to Gina Marie Lindsey, Executive Director, to praise Dawn. In turn Gina Marie wrote a personal letter to Dawn affirming for her and all employees (since Gina Marie's note was posted on LAWA's intranet) how critical the "people" part is to our business, underscoring again the tremendous positive impact one person can have on LAX's image.

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255

Traffic

Eric G

Sgts Stanciell and Jackson

A woman on the verge of tears approached Eric, a LAWA traffic police officer, and asked if he was going to arrest her. Eric could see how distraught the woman was and his immediate response calmed her when he said, “No, I’m here to help you.”

She burst into tears and told him that her family had sent her to LA to enter a rehabilitation program but after she landed she decided she didn’t want to go. She had been wandering around the airport for four hours after arriving, she said, and he sat her down on a bench on the front drive. He sat beside her and he let her talk, just talk. This calmed her and told her everything was going to be OK.

In the course of things he learned that a driver from the rehabilitation clinic was supposed to pick her up, and long story short Eric made contact with the driver, who had been driving around frantically looking for the woman. As she got into the car she took Eric’s hand and thanked him. She was no longer crying. “Because of you, now I’m ready to go do this,” she said. “Thank you for caring.”

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254

AirportCenter

Joseph S

Kathleen Emerson

I'm an ASO I. While conducting my airfield inspections, I came upon a disabled passenger bus on the shoulder of the service road. The location of the bus was impactful to both aircraft and vehicular traffic; therefore my first action was to relocate the bus to another area as quickly as possible.

After escorting the bus across the active taxiway, the vehicle was secured on an outer portion of a tenant’s leasehold. The driver advised me that maintenance personnel had been dispatched.

Onboard the shuttle bus was a couple that was in transit to return home to Australia. They were visibly agitated with the prospect of missing their connecting flight due to the mechanical breakdown of the shuttle bus. Another bus had been ordered; but the timing of its arrival was unclear.

I reassured them that all was fine and proceeded to transport the couple to the terminal in my Ops vehicle. This proactive action greatly alleviated the couples’ stress and concerns about connecting with their outbound flight. In route, we shared pleasant conversation; once at the terminal I was then able to escort them from the tarmac directly to their boarding gate.

Assurances were established with the airline’s personnel that the couple would indeed depart as scheduled. We collectively smiled and sighed in relief.

NOTE: As a follow up, the couple wrote this note which arrived a few days later:

Hi Joseph

We are the people you 'rescued' from the broken down bus at LA airport last Wednesday. Heather and I would like to thank you for your help and assistance in getting us to Terminal 3 (and escorting us to the gate) in time for us to catch our flight.

Without your help I fear we might still be sitting on that bus! Thank you so much for helping us.

Kind regards

Heather and Martin

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253

AirportCenter

Rodney R and Ben N

Kathleen Emerson

On the current LAWA Intranet homepage, there is a very fine picture of the new Volunteer Information Professionals (V.I.P.) standing on the Imperial Terminal Ramp by the Union 76 DC-3. The angle of the camera captured the 100+ V.I.P.s and the aircraft. Behind every picture there is a story and this one features ARCC staff persons, Rodney T and Ben N.

With the LAWA photographer unable to be present on the day of the V.I.P. kick-off, so the back-up photographer from DWP was scheduled to assist with the group photo. When the photographer and equipment, which was a truck with an aerial lift, arrived; the LAWA V.I.P. coordinator realized that access and escort to the airfield had not been prearranged or approved.

Rodney received the information and immediately handled everything, organized the details and had the photographer in place for the day time photograph. Ben followed-up with the details for the evening. The photographer was once again in place for the second group photo.

The professional assistance by the Airport Operations staff of Rodney and Ben showed how working together brings a picture perfect result.

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252

CSR

Jan L

Jose R

A man was highly agitated because he feared he would miss his international flight. He told me the airline he was on and I took him to that carrier, but as we walked I had a proactive thought to ask to see his ticket. He showed it to me and I saw that in fact he was on a different carrier to the Asian city he was trying to get to. Now time was really short, and I went with him to the correct carrier and waited with him, so I could ask the airline rep for an “express pass.” With that in his hand I showed him where he needed to go and assured him he would be OK. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said over and over.

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251

CSR

Jan L

Jose R

A 75-year-old woman started to cry. She told me she had arrived from Tonga at 8am that morning and it was now 3:30pm and her friend had not come to see her. She told me she had lost $5 in the pay phone trying to call her friend. That’s when she started to cry. I told her I would call her friend and I used my cell phone. I got no answer and left a message for her friend with my number and the location where this woman was.

I told the woman I would check back later, and that’s when she told me the full story about how she was trying to fly to Salt Lake City to see her daughter and her friend was supposed to come see her while she waited for the evening connection to go see her daughter. Now I saw the source of the tears, that she was missing her friend, and had really wanted to see her. Language was an issue, but I helped her do her check in for her evening flight, and that calmed her, since that process had been confusing her also.

Even though she didn’t get to see her friend, I got her on the flight to Salt Lake safely and she told me how thankful she was for all my personal concern. I told her that was my job. Then after she left and caught her flight, I got a call back from her friend. I told her the woman was safe, and though the friend was sorry she had not connected, she was happy to know that there was someone at the airport who had cared for her friend.

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250

Traffic

Patrick G

Sgt Turner

A husband and wife needed a place to stay overnight, but they were having no luck finding a hotel. They could barely speak English. I was set to go on break and I told them I would help them.

First I was proactive and found an interpreter, another traveler in the area, and he translated for me as I told the couple I had an idea. I told them we would go inside the terminal to the Travelers desk, and I would see if we could get help there to find them a hotel. The interpreter stayed with the situation too, and I was able to work at the Travelers desk to find them a place for the night. The interpreter told them the good news and they broke into smiles. Then the interpreter turned to me, and said, “They want you to know how grateful they are for your professionalism.”

Made my day, better than a break.

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249

Traffic

Jesse P

G Jackson

A woman returned to the airport very upset. She told me that she had dropped her brother off four hour earlier and that he had not made it to his destination yet, which was only an hour away by air.

So she had returned to the airport to check on him, and I was calm and engaging. I told her she couldn’t leave her car, but if she gave me a description, I would call in a report and have a check done on her brother. She thanked me and when she returned after driving around I was able to report that her brother was found. He was still at his gate waiting for his flight to leave.

Not a good thing for him. But good for her, that he was safe and she could relax. She thanked me for taking an interest and offering to help.

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248

Traffic

Tonya H

Supervisory staff

I had a passenger who was upset because she was running late and about to miss her international flight. Sometimes discretion is important and even though she was taking a long time to get all her things out of the car, which was parked in front of TBIT, I could see she was taking things out of the car that looked like wedding things.

I engaged her politely and she told me that she was getting married overseas and she was so anxious because she was late. I used my discretion and waved to several cars to go around her so she could have an extra minute to get all her bridal things out of the car.

As she ran toward the terminal, she turned around and said to me over her shoulder, “Thank you for being a life saver!”

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247

CSR

Anna H

Marlene T

A young man was concerned because his flight was cancelled and his baggage had been put on an earlier flight. He was 14, traveling alone and was nervous about what to do.

I engaged him and suggested he check directly with an agent from his airline, then come back to let me know what happened so I could monitor with him. He came back a half hour later and he was supposed to have a four hour layover in Los Angeles and was a little intimidated.

But the agent had found an earlier flight and rebooked him. He had a big smile on his face and was thrilled. As I directed him to his gate he told me how grateful he was that I had taken an interest in him.

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246

Badging

Nadine W

Supervisory staff

A heightened focus on customer service at the Badging office gives customers a chance to identify on-the-spot examples of great service.

Nadine has received a veritable high tide of praise, including “She has a great attitude and wonderful smile.” “ She was very courteous and made me feel at ease during the entire process.” And “Nadine was delightful, personable, friendly and VERY helpful!”

As the Badging office has moved this spring to an appointment system to make obtaining a security badge easier and more convenient for airport employees, Nadine’s extra proactive efforts to ensure a smooth transition to the new system have been well noticed and warmly appreciated by the Badging office’s customers.

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245

Traffic

James B

Sgt Gary Jackson

Sometimes you have to use your head. I had a man drive around two times, since I could not allow him to stop and wait for his wife to come out of the terminal. That’s what he told me when he first pulled up, that he was there to pick up his wife. I explained the policy, and he understood and so he drove around the CTA two times. Then on the third time, I could see a woman waiting on the curb and I saw her make a motion to hurry toward the car. The husband didn’t see her and he was about to drive around a third time, but I held up my hand for him to stop, and he did. That give his wife the few seconds she needed to reach the car, and I let him pause another moment to put her bags in the car. Their two kids jumped out of the car and hugged their mother. The husband signaled me, “Thank you!” and I signaled back to him, “We love families here at LAX!”

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244

Traffic

Cleo J

Sgt Turner

A woman tried to stop to pick up her passenger, who was running from behind to catch her car. She kept moving up and up and up, as she tried to obey the rule to keep moving. I saw her passenger running, and I held up my hand and smiled. She was so upset and almost in tears, thinking she would get a ticket if she didn’t keep moving. Again I smiled, and I gave her a moment to pause, which allowed her party to catch the car, and her party got inside. Then I waved her on, and she rolled down the window and said, “Thank you so much for showing interest.”

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243

Traffic

Robin B

Sgt Hoffman

A woman called me on the phone very upset because she had lost her bracelet when she had passed through screening at LAX.

She was in NY now, and was calling me as soon as she had arrived. I could see why she was so upset and I communicated in a calm voice that I understood her problem. That helped calm her, and I asked her if I could put her on hold a few minutes. Then I called several places, but I could not locate the bracelet. I told her that, but I told her I would brainstorm with her on a few more reliable options she could try to locate the item.

Now she was very calm because she said she had been transferred to several departments, but she was happy to have me take interest and help her. I gave her the best ways to try to find the bracelet, and she told me thank you for being so helpful.

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242

Traffic

Chvele T

Sgt Turner

A man could not find his wife and he was very upset. He told me she should be at the curb by now since the internet said her flight had arrived already.

He started yelling asking why she wasn’t there yet. I calmed him down by explaining in a calm voice that I wanted to help him find his wife. I used my engagement strength to hold the “connection” with him and listened to him and let him vent.

Then I was proactive and verified that in fact her flight had arrived, and at that moment the wife came out the door. The man said thank you for listening, and added, “Thank you for being understanding.”

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241

Traffic

Saeed Mala

Sgt Mixon

A man was upset because he couldn’t find the person he had come to pick up. I told him he couldn't leave his car, but he told me he couldn’t park because he didn’t have money. I told him that if would drive around the CTA, I would check on the status of his person’s flight.

While he made a loop, I checked and when he returned I told him that the flight had arrived and his person should be on the way, which he was. His party came out the door and got in the car. The driver told me thank you for doing a great job!

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240

Traffic

D. Sinclair

Sgt Alexander

A group in a car was upset because they could not find their party curbside. I spoke calmly to them, and listened to them and let them vent their frustration. Then I asked a few questions and found out they were at the wrong airport.

I gave them directions to get to John Wayne Airport, and they were very grateful.

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239

Traffic

Reginald L

Sgt Sancielli

A woman drove around the CTA several times and still they did not see her party in front of Terminal 5. She was very anxious. I could see her anxiety and I calmed her by offering to check the flight monitor.

When I did I found that her mother’s flight was delayed one hour and I suggested that she might want to park in the garage and go inside the terminal to wait. This would be a lot more comfortable than driving around and around. She told me thank you for the suggestion, and she did.

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238

Traffic

Juvenal M

Supervisor

I advised a driver that she needed to move her car away from the curb, but she did not want to move. I used all four of my resiliency strengths from the program, especially engagement, and I told her in a calm voice that the airport had safety rules and regulations. It was my duty to enforce them, I said. She got upset because she didn’t want to move, but still I remained calm. I took time to explain all over again how the rules worked, and maybe it was the calm voice, but it started to work. I was proactive and I pointed inside the window at the baggage area and explained that people were still waiting for their bags to be delivered. I told her by the time she drove around one time, her party should be ready for her, and again I could see that by my remaining calm, that calmed her. She did drive away. But first she said thank you for taking the time to explain.

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237

AirportCenter

Jane K

Rodney T

Jane works in the ARCC doing gate assignments. One day a station manager called the ARCC very upset because a TBIT gate the airline was scheduled to use for a flight had been roped off as “closed” due to construction. It’s not unusual for gates to be closed from time to time, but the manager told Jane, who answered the phone, that the gate had been closed without notice. To make matters worse, the airline’s passengers were in the process of being directed to the gate and the manager was concerned about the negative impression that would create.

While the manager held the line, Jane checked out the cause and found that the short notice was caused by a sudden malfunction at the gate. Though it was no one’s fault, Jane apologized and took full responsibility. Then in a calm tone - her hallmark – Jane told the manager she would fix the problem. She shifted into a proactive mode and found an open gate near the closed gate. She assigned that gate to the airline, so passengers who had begun trekking down in the direction of the original gate would not be inconvenienced.

To provide additional support, Jane alerted LAWA OPS staff and asked them to hurry to the old gate to help direct the airline’s passengers to the new one. The manager was impressed with Jane’s highly attuned sense of service and how instinctively she took a problem and produced a workable solution – creating a satisfied internal customer for LAWA.

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236

CSR

Jabir S

Linda P-C

The passenger had arrived from Mexico at the TBIT terminal. She was in the exit line in the customs area, and was very anxious because her flight connection was very tight. She informed me that her flight was departing at 10:15pm and it was 9:30 now. I asked her for the flight number and airline. I proceeded to coordinator’s desk and checked the computer. Her flight was departing out of terminal 2. It was also 30minutes late. I went back to the line and informed her that she might still make the flight.

I then called Jabir and asked him to meet the passenger at the arrivals area in TBIT. He agreed to meet her and walk her to terminal 2, then get her to the airline ticket counter. He was waiting for her when she exited the customs area. He helped her push her cart during their rush to terminal 2. Once there he located the ticket counter and explained the problem to the agent. The agent told Jabir not to worry, that he would assist her through security and to her plane. He assured Jabir that she would make her flight.

The passenger was overwhelmed by the efficiency and the kindness of LAX staff. Jabir said she could hardly contain herself as she said a hurried “thank you, thank you” and a warm good bye.

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235

CSR

Julia G.

Marlene T

A woman from Birmingham, Alabama had to remain in Los Angeles for two days while the airline worked to rebook her to get her home after she had made a mistake with her travel plans. She was upset because her money was running low and she didn’t know if she’d have enough to pay for two nights accommodations.

My co-worker and I found another young woman who was in a similar predicament trying to get home to Birmingham, and we introduced the two travelers. They were grateful, because that gave them a chance, they said, to pool their resources. Not only that but they said they were happy because they each got a chance to make a new friend!

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234

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A family came down into baggage claim at T 4 anxious and upset because the family that was supposed to meet them had not come. One member called on his cell phone and the party that was supposed to meet them said they were at the airport, but they kept saying, ”We’re not allowed to go inside.”

Finally I figured out that the other family was waiting for them at Tom Bradley building. For whatever reason the family that had come to meet them refused to come over to Terminal 4 for fear of getting lost. I got permission from my supervisor to walk the arriving family over to Tom Bradley, where I created a successful “reunion.”

They were all extremely grateful and kept thanking me over and over.

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233

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

I was working Terminal 1 when two young Japanese girls approached me, very upset. One of the girls had left her ATM card on the Westwood Fly Away Bus. I called the dispatcher for the Bus. He asked the time of day the girls left the Westwood station. The dispatcher called back and told us the bus was still at the departure level and would return to the terminal. I waited with the girls for the bus to come back around and the girls went on board and found the ATM card. They were very very happy and thanked me for my help.

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232

Badging

Melvin DeL

Renee McM

Melvin wears several hats - he serves external customers while also meeting the needs of internal customers at the Badging Office. One day, Melvin rose above and beyond to meet the need of a Fire official. The official had been designated as a “designated trainer” for his fire-fighting colleagues back at their headquarters. One day Melvin got a call that the Fire official needed questions answered on site at the Fire department. Instantly and without a second thought, Melvin volunteered to hurry over to help. He was going off duty, but nevertheless he volunteered to go out of his way and on his own time so that there would be no delay in getting Fire employees badged and processed into the airport’s workforce. But there’s more: not only did Melvin do this for the fire official, but a week earlier he did the same thing, and volunteered his own time, to meet the same need for the police.

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231

CSR

Paul B and Susan S

Midori M

Paul, working Terminal 1, called me to ask if he could escort an elderly man with a walker to Tom Bradley Terminal. The elderly man was from Bakersfield and Travelers’ Aid had arranged passage to take him home by bus.

Paul suggested the man spend his time waiting for the bus at Tom Bradley as there were comfortable chairs and a food court. Later in the evening I found out that Paul had called Susan, who was assigned to Bradley to be on the look out for the man and help him if need be.

When I got Bradley I had Susan point him out to me; and when I talked to the man I found him to be very happy with the service LAWA’s CSRs provided. Susan had bought him coffee, Paul had supplied him with some snacks.

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230

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A couple’s flight to LAX from Paris was delayed 3 ½ hours. They spoke no English came out of the customs area looking ‘lost and worried.’ I could see that and approached them and tried to find out what I could do to help them. They retrieved their cell phone and the text in English said ‘their plane was late and they thought they missed their connection to Honolulu. I asked the security person at the exit if they could speak to a rep from their airline. She said instead they should go to Delta, because Delta had a code share agreement with their airline. I started to walk them to the shuttle bus, but then I was proactive and decided to take a look at their paperwork. They were actually flying another airline to Hawaii and the flight had departed at 3:37 pm and it was now 6:05 pm. I took them upstairs to the carrier’s counter and explained the situation and the agents rebooked them on a later flight. The couple was extremely grateful and thanked me for taking such special care of them.

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229

CSR

Andy C

Linda P-C

One evening at Terminal 4, I was approached by a passenger who spoke very little English, only Laotian. She kept trying to let me know that she was being picked up and something about her bag (luggage). I could not understand who was picking her up or what happened to her bag. Her cell phone battery was low, so I showed where to plug in the charger. We waited and then she called a family member. He spoke a little more English, but was still hard to understand. The long and short of it was the woman’s bag was already in Fresno, and her family members were waiting for her in Fresno. The long and short of it is she had gotten off at LAX and gone to the curb, while instead she should have gone to catch her connecting flight to Fresno. I took her to the carrier and explained the situation and they got her a hotel room for the night, since there wouldn’t be another flight until the morning. I got her to a hotel and told the hotel to make sure she was back at the airport by 7am to catch her flight. She did sign language to me to show how grateful she was!

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228

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A gentleman approached me at Terminal 3 and was panicked about his baggage. He was standing under the green sign when the Flyaway bus arrived. The driver took his bag and placed it into the bus’ baggage area. When the passenger inquired whether the bus was going to Union Station, the driver said Van Nuys. The gentleman was going to Union Station, but the bus driver took off. The bus was en route to Van Nuys approximately four minutes, when I called dispatch for the Flyaway transportation and explained what happened. The dispatcher contacted the bus driver who was then located at Terminal 7 about to leave the airport. The dispatcher told us to wait under the green sign at Terminal 3 and the driver would be back in 5 minutes.
The driver returned with the passenger’s luggage and he was extremely happy the situation was resolved immediately. He and his wife both thanked me. It saved them a lot of time and trouble.

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227

CSR

Martha G

Midori M

One day just before 1630 and the start of our staff briefing, CSR Michael came into the office and told me the woman who had accompanied him to our office wanted to speak to me. The traveler, a State Farm Ins. Agent from Fort Collins, Colorado wanted to tell me that Michael had been very helpful to her.

She had come back to the airport from her hotel hoping to find someone who would gave her options on how to get to the places she wanted to visit around Los Angeles. She was going to have some extra time and she was anxious to see LA.

She was delighted to have “discovered” Michael, she said, and he provided “everything and more.” She was obviously impressed enough to take the time and walk the distance from T2 to our office (eastern most end of T3) to speak to a supervisor. The traveler said she had a business of her own and knew how important customer service is to an organization; that it spoke highly of LAX to have personnel like Michael.

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226

CSR

Joyce W

Turkan Y

A customer was upset because he had forgotten his I Pad on the airplane and spoke hardly any English. I used one or more of the strengths from my Personal Resiliency to solve the problem: I went to the airline with him and explained what had happened. The agent made a radio call to check if the I Pad was found, it turned out it was found and the agent told the customer to wait 15-20 minutes to get it back from the airplane. The customer left happy saying: thank you for getting involved and helping me.

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225

CSR

Cynthia D.

Linda P-C

Cynthia was working the Information desk at the departures level of TBIT. A passenger approached her at the desk and said she had just come into terminal 7 and had dropped her Blackberry on the airplane. Cynthia called the airline for the passenger, so they could check their lost and found room. But the airline did not answer the phone. Cynthia tried to call several times. Each time there was no answer. The passenger’s flight was ready to depart for New Zealand in another hour and a half.

Cynthia gave the passenger instructions on how to get back to terminal 7. The passenger said she was afraid to walk by herself. Cynthia was at the desk by herself and could not leave. She called the FIS area and explained that there was a passenger who needed assistance in getting to terminal 7.

Turkan and I arrived on the departures level and met the passenger. We told her that it was a safe walk back to terminal 7. She would have none of it. So we walked her back to terminal 7. When we arrived at the baggage office they could not get hold of the cleaning crew. So they had the passenger fill out a form and told her to give them a call when she returns from her trip.

On the fast walk back to TBIT I let the passenger use my cell phone to call her sister. She was to contact her sister on her trip and now would not be able to. Her sister informed her that the cleaning crew had called her over an hour ago to say they had found the phone. Her sister had informed the crew which airline and the destination of her sister would be. The airline said that they would get the phone to the departure gate for the passenger.

The passenger was so happy that all three of us got involved. She said she felt safe and protected by all our help. She also said that the trip would now be a happy one.

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224

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A flight from Paris was 3 ½ hours late getting into LA. A couple who spoke no English came out of the Customs area looking ‘lost and worried.' I could see apprehension on their faces and I approached them to find out what I could do to help. Through hand signals they showed me how they were concerned that they would miss their connection to Honolulu.

I sought to calm them and started to walk them to the shuttle bus to help them to Delta, which is where they thought they needed to catch their connection, but just to be sure I decided to look at their paperwork. Good thing because I discovered they were actually flying on United Airlines to Hawaii and the flight had departed at 3:37 pm and it was now 6:05 pm.

I communicated that they had missed their flight, but I reassured them that they had me on their side, and I took them back to their original carrier, which was able to rebook them on the next flight to Hawaii. They were extremely grateful and thanked me for all I did for them in a new, strange city.

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223

CSR

Cynthia D.

OSamu K.

I was on my way to lunch when I saw a couple very animated, like they were confused and upset. I walked over to see if I could help them and very quickly I could see that they were deaf. The woman signaled to me about “a car leaving.” I wrote down on a piece of paper, “What can I do to help you?” and the couple wrote down on a piece of paper explaining their problem, which was this: they needed to make a car rental reservation for a car to Arizona but they had not been able to achieve that at the TTY phone in the courtesy booth.

I signaled to them to relax, that they now had me on their side, and I called Hertz. That’s the logo they showed me and I began the coordination effort to get them a reservation. This was not easy, though, since the couple and I had to communicate back and forth with scribbling on paper, then I relayed their desires to the Hertz agent.

Finally we got it all done, then I walked them to the Car Rental Shuttle. The lady was especially happy. She wrote me a note on a piece of paper that said, “Thank God we met you.” That was so much better than lunch!

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222

CSR

Robert E.

Turkan Y

A student approached me. He did not speak any English at all, but signaled to me that he was coming from an Arabian country to spend a month with a US family. That piece of information was not easy to ascertain, but in the end that’s what he was able to communicate to me, that and the fact that the family who was supposed to meet him did not come. He had the paperwork from the agency sponsoring him and I called them. I got a recording, so I read further down on the paper to find the name of the sponsoring family. I called them and they said that the agency had told them the young man was supposed to take transportation to their home in Carson. I got permission from my supervisor to take the young man to Travelers’ Aid in Bradley terminal, but just as I arrived, my cell phone rang and it was the family calling me. They had spoken to the agency and had received permission for the boy to take a taxi and they would pay for it. I communicated this to the boy, who understood ultimately my reason for taking him to a taxi. He got in and smiled, but before he did he said something to me in Arabic that along with his big smile indicated that he was very grateful for all my help.

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221

CSR

Robert E.

Turkan Y

A traveler from Reno was having a huge problem. His wife had gone to China and was due back in a week. He flew from Reno to LAX because he wanted to talk to her carrier in person to clear up some issues with her reservation. But the carrier’s counter was closed and had no way to make contact before he had to fly back to Reno.

I was proactive and went to his carrier’s office and personally found a willing rep to come out of the office onto the floor and meet with the man. He was so appreciative. He got his business done, then shaked my hand repeatedly, thanking me over and over again for saving him a wasted trip from Reno.

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220

CSR

Cynthia D.

Midori M

A young woman traveling with 4-year-old boy just arrived from New York at T4. I saw both of them were kneeling down on the floor against the wall, not far from the carousel where people passed back and forth. The mom looked apprehensive. She was wiping the boy' bloody nose with a napkin. She kept looking around for someone while trying to calm the confused crying boy.

I stepped up and asked the lady, “Can I help you? I work for the airport.” The mom told me that her son’s nose had bleeding since they landed. She didn’t know what to do, and her family hadn’t arrived yet to pick them up. I asked her if she wanted a paramedic, but she declined. I offered to her help with cold compress in the restroom, and she refused that too. Still the boy’s nose was still bleeding heavily, and I was worried. I couldn’t possibly let them just go like that, so I called my supervisor, Midori, and explained what was going on. Midori suggested I call First Aid, and I did. Then I explained to the mom that the airport had a First Aid Nurse who was going to come to make sure her son was OK.

She liked that idea and while we waited for the nurse, I told the mom and son to move to a better location away from crowd where they could sit. I gave them plenty of paper towels. Then 5 minutes later 3 First Aid Attendants came with Midori right behind. They got the boy’s bleeding to stop, and for the first time the mother smiled. She smiled with relief , and as the boy started walking around again as if nothing had happened, I smiled with relief too!

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219

CSR

Anna G

Chris G.

One day recently I observe Anna spending a great deal of time with a passenger and as her supervisor I inquired if something was wrong. I learned that the passenger, a seaman who had limited ability with English, had been waiting in FIS area for two hours because Customs was unable to process him into the country – since he could not provide a U S address where he’d be staying.

Anna was proactive and took charge. She called the arrival information desk to confirm the situation then called a phone number the passenger had in his possession, but to no avail. Anna then proceeded to look at an itinerary information sheet the passenger possessed and was able to identify the name of the company that he had come to the country to work for. Again being proactive she googled it and came up with the address the passenger so desperately needed to get admitted to the U S.

Customs was satisfied and the passenger said thank you for all the help, because without Anna he could’ve been at the airport all night!

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218

CSR

Cynthia G.

Theresa O.

I was at the information desk at arrivals level when a distressed young lady approach Cynthia Gonzales and asked for advice. The traveler had lost her passport with twenty minutes time before boarding time. Cynthia, quickly contacted Airport Police, and worked with police to find the passport. The traveler showed tremendous gratitude for Cynthia’s quick action in locating the passport. If Cynthia had not taken quick action, she said, she would have missed her flight.

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217

CSR

Landry Y

LLinda P-C

At 9:00pm a passenger came to the arrivals information desk very upset. He was told that the Santa Barbara Air Bus had a pick up at LAX at 8:30pm. He had been waiting for over half an hour and no bus came by. I checked the schedule and informed him that the bus left at 8:00pm. He said that earlier he had been given information - the wrong information obviously, and so now he was very unhappy.

He explained that he went to get something to eat because he thought he had the time. If he had know the correct time he never would have eaten.
I informed him that the next bus would leave at 10:00pm. I also directed him to the correct bus sign. I also apologized for the previous misinformation.

The customer left happy with me if not with the situation. Hes thanked me for understanding his need.

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216

CSR

Suzanne L, through Anna H

Marlene T

While I was working with Suzanne at the TBIT Arrivals Information Desk a passenger who had arrived from Sydney was very agitated because she did not see the limo driver she had made a reservation to meet her. She asked if we had seen the driver and we replied we had not seen him.

Suzanne was engaging and proactive and Googled the number and found an 800 number which she gave to the passenger. The passenger became indignant when she discovered the limo service was based in Chicago. The passenger then asked Suzanne if she was reading the number correctly to her. Suzanne repeated the number very kindly. Again Suzanne was proactive and Googled further and found a local number for the service. She proceeded to give the passenger the local number but it was a non working number and now this made the passenger very angry.

I never met a passenger so rude and demeaning. Through all this, Suzanne maintained a calm, professional demeanor. I was very proud of her as she proved to be a real professional. She continued to be creative and helpful and finally the lady found the number for the limo company in her cell phone.

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215

CSR

Sandra W

Jose R

This is a story about a missing Handbag and a CSR who wouldn’t give up till she found the owner!

Customer service rep Sandra found a large ladies black handbag in the the ladies room in Terminal 6. She checked the purse and found a drivers license in the wallet, with the owner’s name. She proceeded to each gate area in T 6 and had the lady paged. The lady was paged at three different locations and finally at Gate 65, the passenger heard her name and claimed her hand bag. The ticket agent and Sandra verified the handbag indeed belonged to this lady.

The lady was overjoyed. She didn’t know her bag was missing until she heard her name being paged at the gate. Sandra received ‘thanks’ from the gate agent and also lots of ‘hugs’ and ‘kudos’ from the passenger.

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214

CSR

Sue V

Marlene T

An elderly lady fell while going up on the escalator. She was in a hurry to catch her flight and had tried to go faster than the escalator, and in the process banged her knee, which was bleeding and she was very agitated.
I approached the lady and asked her if I could help. At first she refused. I insisted she have a wheelchair.

I went to the airline ticket kiosk at Terminal 6 and asked for a wheelchair and some bandages. I insisted I was trying to lend a hand to one of their customers, and the agent looked for some band aids but could not find any. Then he called for a supervisor. In the meantime I tried to calm the elderly lady and assured her she would not miss her flight to Miami. The wheelchair arrived with a supervisor equipped with a First Aid Kit.

The traveler was very happy and hugged me. She said she was really pleased that I took the time to help her. She said she was so afraid she would miss her flight to Miami and that is why she was so agitated. She waved good bye and thanked me again. It was a very rewarding experience to see her smiling and happy – with her bandage in place!

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213

CSR

Nancy C

Chris G.

A traveler arriving at TBIT looked very worried and upset, and so I approached her to see if she needed any help. She had two small boys with her, but one son had wandered out ahead and was missing. She couldn’t find him and as seconds ticked on she got increasingly worried. I calmed her and used my engagement strength to go up ahead and see if I could find a worried little boy. Sure thing, I did, and I asked him if he was looking for his mother. He said, yes, and I knew I had the boy I was looking for. I reunited him with his mother and the mother calmed down instantly and thanked me over and over!

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212

CSR

Alicija W

Chris G.

While working on the arrival information desk Alicija was approached by a very upset and frantic passenger asking if anyone had turned in a laptop he had just lost. He mentioned that he had very important and confidential data in it.

Alicja contacted lost and found, but no luck. She felt really bad and helpless that she couldn’t do more for the passenger but did not give up. She asked the passenger his name and contact number in case someone turned in the laptop. The passenger explained that he did not have a local phone number so he left his European number. The man left the airport probably thinking he would never see his laptop again. But to Alicja’s surprise, 40 minutes later, a policeman approached Alicja holding a laptop he had found outside the terminal. After Alicja gave the policeman all the information, the laptop was taken to the police station.

Since Alicja was unable to make an international call from work, she waited until her shift ended and she called the man from home with the good news and gave him all the information he needed to recover his laptop. The passenger could not believe her tireless efforts and he thanked her over and over.

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211

CSR

Martha M

Chris G.

While working at the Arrival information desk, Martha was approached by a passenger who had been delayed in the Customs processing area and did not have anyone to pick him up. Martha asked if he had a phone number to call his family but he could not find one. The passenger left and Martha went down stairs to clock out, but as Martha exited the building the same passenger approached her. He said he had found a number to call his family, but asked her for help in getting a telephone calling card since the place that sold them was closed.

Martha put the passenger in the “Needs Box” by giving him the money to cover the call and helped him dial it so he could communicate with his family and get his needs met. Thanks to Martha he was able to reach his family and as it turned out the family had the wrong arrival date but the family said they’d be on the way. The passenger was happy and very thankful for Martha's help.

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210

CSR

Airport Guide I

Lee, Ming Wen

One day, when I was in the Exit Point, the Inspector Supervisor came to me asked” Do you speak Mandarin?” I said” yes”, he said” this lady who can’t speak English, she was staying here for so many hours that looks for her luggage, normally, she tell us no luggage with her, after that she looks for her luggage, we got confuse on her, can you asked her and make sure how many luggage she has.” The final was: she had two luggage and her daughter wait for her outside, even airline agent all leave already, she did not know where can get her luggage, I was back to information desk to tell coordinator which I need to escort one lady to departure, then I guide this lady to departure on China Eastern Airline counter and tell all situation to them, also the one guide was her son in law who wait for her for a long time too and her daughter still wait for her in the arrival area, after that the airline agent went to get luggage to her, her son in law and her were so happy, they give me highly appreciated. Because her daughter and son in law though that is big trouble to them” The mom was disappear”

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209

CSR

Yonis M and Richardo V

LLinda P-C

A young European woman approached the info desk. She was upset and crying. She had flown in from St. Louis and her traveling companion was scheduled to come in on another flight. She could not find her companion or the greeter who was to meet them, so she was doubly upset.

Yonis and Ricardo were proactive and took step one to connect her with her companion. They took the info about her friend’s airline and looked up the flight on the computer. Just their willingness to help, along with their calm tone, prompted the woman to stop crying.

They gave her the arrival time and the location for her friend, Terminal 4 and she went off, eager to wait for her friend to arrive. Then they did extra for her – they called over to the carrier and the carrier rep said she would look for the young woman on their end and help unite the young woman with her friend.

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208

CSR

Robert E.

Turkan Y

A lady asked for help in halting English. She had a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express and didn’t know how to get there. I asked if she meant the Inn at LAX, and she said yes. I dialed the number on the hotel board, but did not get an answer. So I used my cell phone. The agent there, however, said they did not have a reservation for a woman by that name. The clerk said she should come over, though, and they would resolve the issue, so I moved the woman and her 12 pieces of luggage to the hotel pick up area.

That’s when she told me she had the name of the hotel wrong, and she gave me the name of another hotel. I called that one on my cell, and sure enough they had the reservation. I waited for her to catch the shuttle to that hotel, to make sure she got to her destination safely.

I felt proud that I was able to use my “resiliency” strengths from training, including "engagement" – calling with my personal cell phone – "proactive" – making sure she got to the right destination. And patience - staying calm and polite through the wrong process to make sure she got the best possible service to meet her needs.

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207

CSR

Janice A

Midori M

I had a traveler who did not speak English and had 2 large pieces of luggage trying to get from T6 to China Airline. He wanted a cart but had only a twenty dollar bill.

To solve the problem, I asked several people in the area if they could make change, but no luck. I finally noticed a person in the lobby leaning on a cart that he was not using. I used my optimism, told the person the situation and asked if he wouldn’t mind giving the cart to the traveler. The person said, “Of course.”

The traveler left happy with the cart, waving excitedly as he went. He tried to thank me by offering me money and a smile. I rejected the money, of course, but accepted the smile!

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206

CSR

Angie H

Midori M

I had customers who were upset because they had been dropped off at the wrong terminal (T2), by the shuttle driver. To solve their problem, I took them to the upper level of the Bradley Building and showed them how to get to their carrier in T4. I apologized for the driver and told them sometimes the drivers are new and don’t have complete knowledge of the airport. The customers left happy saying, thank you, we hope we find someone like you in T4 with your patience and kindness!

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205

CSR

Katalin T

Osamu K.

It might seem like a little thing but it was very frustrating for the lady who was struggling to free her purse from a cart. The string from her jacket got tangled with her purse and both got stuck in a luggage cart. I saw the lady having trouble get the whole thing untangled, and I stepped in and engaged her. She let me have a hand at it and I was able to get her free. She spoke very softly, but with thankful eyes, “Thank you,” she said, and I felt good.

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204

CSR

LAWA's CSR "Team"

Sabrina A

We had 2,497 passengers between 10:10 and 10:50 with the following flights: AS 243, CX 884, NH 6, QF 11, TN 8, JL 62, OZ 202, AM 646, AA 170, KE 17. Number of CBP officers processing the passengers: 32, Number of Quads open 8.
Number of CSR's on duty at the FIS at 10:00 6. Number of CSR's at the primary 4
Due to the volume of passengers and lack of room at the primary, I turned both escalators (SE7, NE7) off to prevent any unfortunate accident. C & M was notified at 11:00 and escalators went back up.
CSR's did an outstanding job handling the huge volume of passenger traffic and worked very hard to meet everyone’s need. I am so proud of each of them.

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203

CSR

Paul B

Midori M

This story does not fit the format of the Gold Form, however, it shows how appreciated our Ambassadors are. During my rounds, I entered T5, ambassdor Paul Brauner’s assigned terminal. We talked a few moments, commenting on various issues related to the terminal. Just then, a man came by and as he passed, he thanked Paul for his help. I jokingly asked how much Paul had paid him to say that in front of a supervisor. The gentleman said he had been helped by Paul, had watched Paul work as he waited for his friend. He said, “Paul was a good man, you (LAX) are lucky to have him, he’s a great asset.”

I said it was nice to hear and thanked him for letting me know. He then gave me his card: Mr. Isaac Banks, deputy of Arts and Culture for the City of Los Angeles.

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202

CSR

Chris G.

Coordinator

It was late at night and we had several flights arriving at the same time. This created unusually long lines outside the stanchions. For some reason U.S. citizens were being placed behind some long visitor lines. Because I considered it to be an erroneous decision and the U.S. citizens started complaining, I went to the watch commander and explained the situation. He was proactive and requested a meeting with his supervisor. Both inspectors expressed agreement with me that the U S citizens should be processed separately from the visitors, in their own lines. I felt good for being proactive and bringing this to the attention of the proper authorities to get the situation remedied and save the U S citizens from having a very unpleasant LAX Airport passenger processing experience.

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201

CSR

Osamu K

Cynthia D

A man wheeling a cart filled with luggage into TBIT asked me where his flight to Australia was leaving from. I told him and he asked me a favor. He said there was a young woman who didn’t speak English waiting out by the curb and needed to get to Terminal 7. He couldn’t help her because he had his flight to catch, but he asked me to do what I could for her. I went outside and saw her standing there, confused and anxious. I tried to call for someone to come escort her so I would not need to leave my post, but couldn’t get through to anyone. Then I was proactive and I contacted my supervisor to get permission to take this young, scared girl to her destination. She was so grateful and thanked me constantly.

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200

CSR

Vincent N

Osamu K.

I also helped a man who was struggling with the long line in Customs. At that time all the lines were long and there was no shorter line to put him on. I was proactive and went over to the Customs agent and explained my concern about this elderly man. The Customs agent solved the problem for us, he worked with me to escort the man to the front of the line so he could be processed quickly and find a chair to sit and rest. “Thank you,” the man said. “You people have saved my day.”

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199

CSR

Shumei Lee

Osamu K.

I saw a man struggling to stay upright as he waited on a very long line in Customs. I could see that he wouldn’t be able to stand much longer, and I was proactive. I hurried over to find an airline agent and asked him to get a wheelchair, quick. The agent made the call and wheelchair worker showed up with a wheelchair, just in time. “Thank you, thank you!” the man said to us.

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198

CSR

Alicia W

Chris G.

While working on the departure info desk, a very upset gentleman approached Alicja. He explained that he needed to make the London flight because he was attending a very important business meeting. But his time for checking in had passed - it was 30 minutes before departure and the counter was closed with no visible staff members.

Sensing his urgency, Alicja immediately engaged the gentlemen and asked him to wait at the info desk while she hurried to the airline’s back office, where she explained the entire situation. She asked the airline rep if they would accept the last minute passenger. The rep was customer-focused also and made some adjustments to accommodate the passenger on their flight.

The passenger was extremely grateful. As he ran off to catch his flight he called to Alicia, “You saved me and my job!”

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197

Badging

Karen Y and Alitia B

Kayley K

An airport employee came to the Security Badge Office to renew and receive additional access on a security badge. The customer arrived early in order to take a driver’s test given by the badge office, attend an aircraft surface movement class given by Airfield Operations and receive US Customs approval for his renewal application.

While the customer waited in line for the final phase of receiving his new badge, Karen observed that the information placed on the application by Airfield Operations would result in the newly created badge expiring within a few days of its issuance. The customer told Karen that he had just taken the class. To solve his problem, Karen was proactive. She and Alita verified the info then made the correction to the badge application. Normally a badge applicant would be sent to Airfield Operations to have the correction made, but because this applicant had been in the office all day with training and testing Karen and Alita chose to use their N.I.C.E. principles and place the customers needs in the needs box.

The customer returned early the next morning to speak with a supervisor. He explained that normally people request to see a supervisor to make a complaint; however, he wanted to be sure to let supervision know that both young ladies had gone above and beyond the standard in providing customer service and he wanted to make sure they were recognized.

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196

CSR

Maria W

lLinda P-C

The night before Thanksgiving, Maria was working the departure level information desk. A passenger approached and said he needed to make an international call. The passenger explained that he had no money and needed to call his credit card company to unblock his credit card. His card was blocked and he needed to let his company know that he was traveling outside the U.K. Maria explained how to make a collect international call from the public phone. He came back to the desk after a short time and said he could not get through.

Maria let the passenger use her cell phone. The passenger made the call to unblock his credit card. He had to wait 15 minutes for the access process to be complete, and Maria waited with him, to make sure it turned out OK. It did. He got his money from the ATM and he thanked Maria for her phone and the positive impression she made of Los Angeles.

But the story doesn’t end there: a week later some flowers arrived at the airport, with a note. The note said, “These are for Maria, who gave me her phone. Signed, Paul from England.”

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195

CSR

Ahna H

Marlene T

I just clocked out from my shift when a Taxi dispatcher asked for my help. An elderly lady with large baggage needed assistance. I escorted her to TBIT and on the way she explained her son had dropped her off at United in Sacramento thinking her bags would be transferred and her baggage was too heavy for her. I engaged her and offered to carry her luggage to TBIT and her airline counter/check-in. I said my goodbyes, but she took my hand and said she could not have done it alone.

Then she kissed my hand. That was a warm moment for me and was worth the extra time it took me.

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192

CSR

Ahn N

Chris G.

A family arriving from Vietnam stopped me while I walked through the arrival lobby and told me it'd been four hours since the flight arrived but they were unable to find their arriving family and the airline's counter was closed. They wanted to know where they could go for assistance in locating their family they had come to meet. They were very concerned because it was the first time the arriving family was coming to America and did not speak any English.

After asking them a few questions it was revealed that the arriving family was coming in as new residents/immigrants and I realized that it was possible that they could still be in FIS getting processed. I asked Anh Ngo to investigate with the proper authorities to see if such a family was still being processed. Anh was proactive and used her experience and knowledge to find the family. She was told they would be out in about 30 minutes and she hurried to inform the greeting family. Her engagement on their behalf impressed them, they said, and they thank her for the good news and for relieving their anxiety.

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191

CSR

Oxana R

Linda P-C

One evening an announcement was made for a Latvian language translator.
Oxana was proactive and hurried to the desk and informed the coordinators that she would go and see if they needed a Russian language instead. She said that a lot of Latvian speakers also speak Russian. She called the desk within five minutes to say she would be staying in secondary to do the translating because in fact they did need her skills.

The man was upset because he was having problems with questions on the immigration form. Oxana confirmed that the passenger was misconstruing the question, but again she remained patient and engaging, all of which calmed him, as she helped him navigate through the form, answer the questions, and get through Customs. It took her more than two hours to achieve this, to get the man to feel relaxed again, but she stayed with the job until it was done!

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190

CSR

Cynthia G.

Lena F.

A woman with two small children came to me in tears. She was late getting in on her domestic flight and needed to catch an international flight to meet her soldier husband who was being deployed overseas. She was scared that she would miss her international connection now that she had gotten in late to LAX, and she was worried because she couldn’t find anyone at the airline counter which was closed.

I knew I needed to be proactive, and I called over to USO to see if they could help make contact with the airline. USO jumped right in and made contact on the phone with the airline back office. That enabled the woman to make her connecting flight to see her husband. She thanked me so much for doing this for her, since if she had missed her flight her two kids would not have seen their daddy for a long,long time.

I told her the honor was all mine, and I asked her to thank her husband for all he does to keep us safe.

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189

CSR

Yushan Y

Osamu K.

As a lady passenger exited after arriving from Asia she was having great difficulty managing all her luggage and her crying baby. I stepped up to see if I could help and I asked why the baby was crying so hard. She said the baby was upset because she had left her favorite blanket back in the Customs area, but "I did not have time to go back and get the blanket."

I told her not to worry, let me see what I can do. I used my proaction strength from my Personal Resiliency Profile and talked to officials in Customs and sure enough I was able to locate the blanket. Then I hurried back to the lady, who was so pleased with my customer service, and that made me feel good. But what really made me feel happy was to see the baby smile!

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188

CSR

Anna H

Marlene T

While working Terminal 6, I was approached by a lady passenger who was almost hysterical. After I calmed her down, she explained that she left her purse at the Security Check Point. I tried to explain to her that she needed to return to the Check Point and ask to speak to a supervisor. She didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. I used my engagement strength from my Personal Resiliency Profile and offered to escort her to the TSA Supervisor. Luckily her purse was there. She continued to tell me all her medication was in her purse and that is why she was so upset. It gave me great satisfaction to be able to help her, and her smile. It started my day off on a very positive note!

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187

CSR

Alison J

Turkan Y

I had a customer who was under pressure and showing stress because he could not find his rental car company. To solve his problem, I called different companies to see if any of them might be the one he thought he had made a reservation with, but there were no results. I let the customer use my I phone to access his email to see if he had a reservation number in his itinerary, but he did not. Then I let him use my phone to call his cousin in Pasadena to pick him and his wife up. The customer said thank you for being so kind and thank you for everything you did. They offered to buy me coffee, but I respectfully declined.

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186

CSR

Ana L

Turkan Y

A passenger was upset because he was connecting from a domestic flight to a flight to Signapore, but he had been sent to the wrong terminal. After cruising around, he encountered me in terminal 3. He was very upset for the misleading information he had received. I apologized and smiled at him to let him know I was on his side. He accepted my apology and smiled back. I directed him to TBIT and assured him he would not miss his flight and wished him a good journey to his final destination. Calm now, he said, “Thank you very much young lady.”

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185

CSR

Prasana R

Chris G.

While working at the information desk Prassana was approached by a woman in tears. She was very upset because she could not find her passport and had a connecting flight to Sydney Australia after having arrived at LAX earlier in the day. Prassana took the passenger to the CBP's business office on the third floor to check if any one had turned in the passport but the answer was no.

Prassana didn’t give up and she continued to check with CBP agents. One of them was persuaded by Prassana's passion to keep trying and inquired with his colleagues in the FIS area where the passenger had gone through earlier, and sure enough he was able to locate it.

The passenger was very happy now that she could continue with rest of her journey and said to Prassana, “I cannot thank you enough!”

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184

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C

Two gentleman who arrived from Rome approached Jan. They wanted to know how to get to Tehachapi. Jan carries maps and found Tehachapi on the map. The men informed Jan that they wanted to take a bus. Jan explained that there was no bus. She said, “Why not rent a car?” They did not want to rent a car from LAX.

Jan called their hotel and asked if there was a bus or Amtrak that would get the two men to the hotel. The agent said no bus and no train. The agent said have them rent a car. Jan said they didn’t want to and asked the agent what was the closest city? The woman said Bakersfield, which was about 45 minutes away. Jan told the agent that she would put the two men on the Bakersfield bus. The agent said she would figure out how to get them to the hotel.

Jan is conscientious and when she arrived at work the next day, she called the hotel to make sure the travelers had arrived safely and was told they had already checked out. They had come to offer a presentation and once they were finished they left. Jan asked how they got back to the airport, did they take the bus?. The woman said, “No, they rented a car.”

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182

CSR

Carol H and Jan L

Linda P-C

A man came to the info desk and told Carol and me the elevator to get to the food court was not working. I said I would check it out. It was elevator #9. Carol said she would go back to watch for more passengers. I took three passengers to elevator # 1 & 2 and we went to the 4th floor and down the hall to the food court door. I then went across the food court level to elevator #9. There were two men with LAX I.D.; they said this is a dangerous situation. The doors of the elevator were open and the floor was dropped 3-4 inches.

I said I had phoned it in but asked if they could call maintenance again. When I got to the bottom Carol was there with more passengers. I said follow me but I stopped at the info desk and got paper, black marker and tape. I took the passengers up and showed them the way, then came back down the hall, and made food court arrow signs and taped them onto the walls.

When I got back to the 3rd floor I saw a couple with a child stroller and smart cart. They said they were told by a worker that there was not another elevator to the food court. They said they were starving. I said follow me and I gave them directions. I got back to the booth and made an announcement on the P.A. that anyone needing an elevator to the food court, please use elevator #1 or #2. I walked back to the elevator #9 and found three repairmen. I asked if it was repaired. They said yes. They asked me if I was the person that made the announcement. I said yes and they thanked me and said we need you here more often!

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181

CSR

Carol H

Linda P-C

The passenger seemed flustered. Carol approached him. He needed to get to Westwood – economically. His destination was the Jules Stein Medical Center. They discussed the public bus system. But the passenger had several bags, which would be difficult on the bus. Carol always shows great patience and takes her customers through all their options. She suggested that he take the Flyaway to Westwood and walk the short distance to his destination. The passenger was happy for Carol’s time and information and her patience.

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180

CSR

Carol H

Linda P-C

Three women off a flight from Japan wanted information about getting to Wilshire Grand Hotel. The itinerary that they possessed mentioned Century City. Carol was not sure where the hotel was. Carol had a map and she found the hotel in the downtown area.
One of the young women called the hotel. After a short discussion they decided to take Super Shuttle. Carol continued her engagement with them and walked them to the Super Shuttle agent. They were given the price and went off happy, thanking Carol for all the time she gave them.

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179

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

I was working Terminal Two on the 11 to 6:30 shift. Around 2:30, a young woman came to me and asked if this was the correct terminal for passengers from Amsterdam. I replied that it was and that passengers from that flight had been exiting the FIS for several minutes. I suggested that she look around the terminal to see if her passenger had already arrived. She returned in a few minutes and said that it appeared her passenger had not yet come out.

Around 3:30 she returned and asked if there was any way to check to see what was holding up her passenger. I explained that that was not possible for a specific passenger and that there were certainly more passengers from the Amsterdam flight still in the FIS.
When I returned from my meal break at 4, I saw the young woman still waiting. We exchanged a few words and she expressed her serious concern about the delay. I repeated that the only way I knew to check for a specific passenger was to go to the carrier desk on the second level but that would mean risking her passenger coming out while she was upstairs. About 4:30 she came to me again and said she was going to the desk. It had been almost three hours since the flight had landed. I asked the security guard who controlled access to the FIS if there were any more passengers from that flight. He said no.

Ten minutes later, an older woman pushing a cart with three large bags exited from the FIS. I noted an AMS (Schipol Airport) baggage sticker on one of the bags. I asked the passenger if she was expecting to be met by a young woman and described as best I could the Meeter. The passenger’s face lit up and she said “ja!” I asked her name and suggested that she wait in a quiet part of the lobby while I went to get her daughter. I went to the airline desk, found the Meeter waiting in line, confirmed the name, and told her that her mother had arrived.

As they left Terminal Two a few minutes later, they expressed appreciation for the help they got from LAX.

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178

AirportCenter

Neil T

Rodney T

I got a call from a carrier representative who needed a gate to park an aircraft for three hours. The plane had just arrived and deplaned its passengers, but was scheduled to go out the next morning. The rep who called me needed a gate for three hours until he could move his plane to an overnight slot designated for it.

I put myself in his place and found him a gate, but I told him I had a flight from another carrier set to arrive in four hours and I needed the gate back. He promised to be off in three hours, but as we got close to the three-hour mark he told me he needed more time. Now I had a problem since I had two customers with needs, the one on the gate and the one coming, and I acted proactively. I checked far and wide until I could locate an alternate gate for the incoming aircraft, and found one.

That way I was able to meet a carrier client’s need to remain on the gate beyond his allotted time, and at the same time save the incoming flight and all its passengers any inconvenience. Sometimes it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to keep everyone happy, but that’s what I enjoy about this job!

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177

Badging

Kimyatta D

Mario M

An applicant was upset because his badge to work for another year was returned in error. This caused him the inconvenience and frustration of not being able to work until he could get back to the Badging office to resolve the situation. Plus he wasn’t happy that he had to make an extra trip.

Immediately I adapted to the situation and dropped what I was doing to show him full attention, even though I had something important I was working on. Then I engaged him by listening completely to his full story, and this calmed him down, once he saw that I was focused totally on him.

Then even though I had not created the error I took full responsibility, and told him I would do everything I could to fix the problem as quickly as I could. This calmed him down fully, and he thanked me for taking ownership and respecting his issue.

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176

Badging

Karen Y

Mario M

I wasn’t moving fast enough for an applicant and I overhead him say, “Look at her, she’s just taking her time!” I used humor instead of snapping, and he laughed. Then I explained to him that I had a back problem, which is why I was walking slowly, but I assured him I was totally focused on helping him get his need met. He said, “Thank you, you’re a very nice lady.”

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175

Badging

Kayley K

Frances B

An applicant was upset because his fingerprints were under review and as a result he was asked to supply additional documentation. He got even more upset because getting that new documentation was causing a problem, and he just wanted to get badged now! I was calm and explained in a controlled manner that the Badging office had rules we needed to abide by to ensure everyone’s safety, but at the same time I assured him I wanted to see him get badged as quickly as possible. I continued to engage him and I went though every step in the process for him, one by one, and from that he could see I truly wanted to help him. He thanked me for taking such an interest in his personal case and he said he would now go and get the paperwork he needed.

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174

Badging

Lisa B

Frances B

An applicant was upset because a few months had passed and still her 10 year background check had not cleared the screening process. I was proactive and did an investigation and sure enough I found some errors in her paperwork. I was able to research further and I found things we could do to clear up the errors, and she did them and sure enough in a few weeks she passed, got her badge and she was able to work.

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173

Badging

Debbie M

Mario M

The class we were holding to train authorized signers was cancelled and a man who had made a special trip in to take the class was upset because he had not been told in advance. I engaged him and apologized, then I was proactive and worked with him to find a time we could get him rescheduled. He calmed down and thanked me for taking such an interest and working intently with him to get him rescheduled.

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172

Badging

Roslyn O.

Yvonne M

A man was very upset because his badge didn’t work. He said he had made two phone calls trying to find out what the problem was and finally he had just jumped in the car and come to the office to deal with it directly. I spoke in a calm tone and told him I would do everything I could for him. I quickly troubleshot the full process with him and soon I realized that his badge had an ecoding issue – which I was able to resolve for him in less than a minute. He was very thankful he could work – because without me, he said, his company would have had to send him home.

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171

Badging

Carol F.

Renee McM

A company’s authorized signer had been sent away because he had an expired passport. He called once he got back to his office to make sure that he now had everything he needed to be Badged properly. He had irritation in his voice because he said he didn’t want to come in again and be sent back another time. I engaged him and went through all the steps in the process with him – and this made him very happy that I showed him concern.

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170

Badging

Mary R

Christy S.

An applicant’s paperwork was not correct. This frustrated him and he said he had done everything he thought he needed to to fulfill the application process. I explained in a calm way that there was still a slight problem and that he would not have to stand in line again when he returned. This calmed him down and he thanked me for taking a personal interest in him.

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169

CSR

Susan M

Coordinator

A young lady arrived at LAX early one morning and had several hours to wait before catching her connecting flight home to Australia. She was a Columbian student studying in Australia, and while waiting for her flight back to school later that day somehow she lost her passport and became very upset. By the time she approached me she was crying. I engaged her to calm her down and I asked her a few questions. I took her to CBP offices to see if they had it. But they did not. Then I took her to T 4 to her carrier, to see if it might be there. But again no luck. I could see she was getting more upset and that’s when I thought we should go to the police. Lo and behold, there it was! Someone had turned it into the police and the girl was so happy that she would now be able to fly back to school that night! She was so thankful to me and the police!

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168

CSR

Carrie N

Linda P-C

A flight was diverted to LAX. It should have landed in John Wayne in Orange County. Passengers were told a bus would pick them up at the inside curb. One passenger collected several pieces of luggage and placed them on the inside curb of the sidewalk. He was extremely agitated after managing to get all his bags off the carousel and to the curb, and now had to move them to the outside curb. Carrie was proactive and found a cart for him for all his bags. He had two small children under the age of five with him. The children were hungry. So the man asked Carrie if there was a vending machine close by. Carrie informed him that the closest was at the next terminal, which further exasperated him. But Carrie had a bag of fruit snacks in her bag and offered it to the two girls to share, as the man put all his bags on the cart - but one fell off. The passenger was so frustrated he screamed. Finally he got all his bags to the center island for bus. One thing made him happy, he said, he was happy that throughout his two girls were happy. They waved good-bye to Carrie, and the man finally smiled – thanks to Carrie.

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167

CSR

Sandra Waters

Jose Luis R

I recently assisted a passenger who was having major problems. She needed to get from T-1 to T-7. She was a code-share passenger and misread her ticket. She was traveling with a small baby, had three pieces of luggage, the baby in a stroller and a baby carrier on top of her luggage. She could not manage by herself. I used one of the strengths from my personal Resiliency Profile to solve the problem, I told her when we arrived at T 7 I would go directly to the CSR at the counter. I did and I explained the traveler’s predicament and the Customer Service Representative processed the passenger immediately to go through security. The lady and all her babies were very happy, I could see from their smiles, especially the babies!

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166

CSR

Myrl W

Jose Luis R

A traveler was upset because she had left her purse (with money and her passport inside) on an “A” bus. I used my resiliency strengths, I approached one of the “A” buses and asked the driver if he could radio to another A bus or have it paged. I told him that a lady had left her items onboard an A bus, and we needed to find it. This calmed the lady when she saw how I was proactive for her. After all that I found out that A buses do not have radios, but the driver said that he knew who the driver might be and he said he would be coming around shortly. Right after that, an A Bus arrived and I went onboard and there was the purse in the fourth row. The traveler was speechless. She said she had never been helped the way I had helped her!

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165

CSR

Victor M

Osamu K.

A family arrived from Iran. They had green cards, but since they had been out of the country over six years, Customs and Boarder Patrol stopped them and needed to investigate. This became particularly upsetting for the family’s young son, who had a disability and began to shake and become highly agitated. I engaged him and took him to a snack bar in the Customs area and got him a snack. Suddenly he began to relax as he trusted me, and this made me feel good that I was able to make a difference.

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164

CSR

Carol H

MIdori M

A young woman had arrived from Asia and was waiting at the curb to be picked up by someone she had never met. I could see her apprehension and I calmed her by letting her know I would follow up on her party for her. I used my personal cell to call the contact number she had, but the person on the other end did not know the name of the person coming to the airport to get her, though she did confirm that the young woman was scheduled to be picked up. After several more calls, using my proaction strength – and my optimistic strength that we would get this worked out – finally I was able to make contact with the person coming to the airport, and soon he did arrive and soon after that the young lady was in the car and on her way. She was very grateful for all my help.

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163

CSR

Laura T.

Midori M

A grandfather was very frustrated because his 14-year-old granddaughter was flying as an unaccompanied minor, but he could not get down to the gate to meet her. I engaged him and let him know I was here for him and that calmed him. Then I told him I would go down to the gate to see if she was waiting there, but when I arrived at the gate I found a harried airline agent. He was the only one on duty and multi-tasking, but he checked for me, and he confirmed that the young girl was not there and was on her way to baggage. I called the grandfather to tell him, and he was so grateful for all my help.

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162

CSR

Saida B

Marlene T

A passenger/gentleman came into Terminal 5 looking for his parking receipt. He was very upset. He was looking in the trash cans and on the floor. He had just dropped off his family for a flight, but when he got back to the parking garage he could not find his ticket. I learned all this when I approached him because he looked so upset and I saw him searching the trash cans. He was very upset he told me because without the ticket he would have to pay over $30 to leave the airport. I had a great surprise for him: I told him I had found the parking ticket and had taken it to Delta’s baggage claim office. I walked him to the office and we retrieved his ticket. He was SO happy and he left the airport with a big smile!

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161

CSR

Carlos H and Valentina M

Chris G.

A French speaking elderly couple did not have a U S address to provide to CBP and their tour group leader had left the FIS hall. An airline agent was called over but soon she left saying she'd try to find the group leader. Her leaving made the couple nervous and confused, and that’s when Hernandez and Montagu put the elderly couple “in the box” to meet their need trying to find the group leader themselves. But without success. Until the two CSR’s took a proactive step – and made a long shot attempt to find their leader by calling the arrival info desk. They had the group leader paged and to everyone's surprise, he was still in the house, and answered the page. In the end, we witnessed a happy ending, and the couple thanked the CSRs and went happily on their way.

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160

CSR

Anh N.

Chris G.

Two non-English speaking passengers approached Anh complaining that they had put in a good number of coins into the public phone but were unable to reach their family so they could be picked up. Seeing how frustrated and worried the passengers appeared, Ahn brought them to the information desk and used our phone. She was proactive and was able to contact their family and direct them. When the two families saw each other, they were elated and thanked Anh for her help and understanding.

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159

CSR

Martha M

Chris G.

A passenger approached Martha and said that someone had placed a computer lap top inside his bag and he was very upset and concerned that the computer could be involved in a criminal act. Martha tried to contact an agent from the airline, but without success. The presence of this item in his bag made the passenger very nervous and he wanted someone to take it from him. Martha called the airport police and after they made a report they took the lap top from him. Needless to say, the passenger was very relieved and thankful to Martha for her swift assistance in the matter.

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158

CSR

Joyce W

Turken Y

A flight was cancelled and the airline gave the passengers vouchers, including an 80 year old lady who came up to me crying. She said she had no idea what they meant when they told her to find the “red sign” and take a shuttle to her hotel, the Holiday Inn. I calmed her by making her feel safe and secure with me. I used my personal cell to call the Holiday Inn to confirm her room, then I took her to the shuttle stop to make sure she wouldn’t get lost. She stopped crying, and I spoke to the driver to make sure he would take special care of her. She was so grateful, and that made me happy.

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157

CSR

Nina P

Turken Y

A member in a family had left their backpack on the express bus from Disneyland. The family was very upset and approached me. I asked them how long ago since they had gotten of the bus and they said an hour and a half. I called the Express bus office and they worked with me to start the tracking process. Several phone calls later, both they and I were able to locate the bag and get it delivered back to the airport for the family – who were very happy. That made me feel good, to see how good they felt!

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156

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A passenger approached me and said her backpack with computer had been stolen in Portland, Oregon just before she boarded the aircraft for Los Angeles. She was very upset and wanted to file a police report at LAX. I called the police and was told that a police report could not be filed in Los Angeles but would have to be filed in Portland. I told the lady what the officer had told me. She was extremely upset so I continued to engage her and called the police back. They said they would send an officer out to speak to her personally.
An officer arrived and explained very nicely that he could not file a report in Los Angeles since the crime had occurred in Portland. She was very grateful that he took the time out of his busy schedule to explain the situation to her personally. After the officer left the woman came back to me and told me how much she appreciated my understanding the situation. She was also grateful for the explanation offered by the kind officer.

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155

CSR

Nina P

Turken Y

A woman on her way to Australia missed her flight home because her flight into LAX had arrived too late for her to catch her trans-Pacific flight. She was very upset because she wanted to call her husband in Australia to alert him, but she could not get her phone card to work. I could see her getting progressively more upset and I calmed her by assuring her I would help her make the call. I did that, I got her card to work, and she relaxed greatly after she made contact with her husband. She gave me a big hug!

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154

CSR

Edith A.

Sabrina A

I was working in the Customs Hall when a woman coming off a flight from China suddenly dropped to her knees and began crying uncontrollably. I spoke with the airline rep who rushed to her also, and he said she had just learned that her son had passed away while she had been on the flight to LA. My heart went out to her and I worked with the airline rep to find out that a flight back to Taiwan was leaving in 45 minutes. I acted swiftly to contact Customs to make sure she did not have to wait on line to be processed into the country, so we could get her back out again. Customs worked with us and we got her rebooked and onto the plane. My mother’s heart went out to her and today she is still in my prayers.

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153

AirportCenter

Won D. and Lacy S

Jeff Mort

Won received a request from an airline for parking of their A320 on the West Imperial Terminal ramp to accommodate a University of California, Berkley football team charter flight scheduled for that weekend. Won realized that the dates that were requested conflicted with another charter that was previously scheduled at the West Imperial Terminal for a Boeing satellite movement; therefore, he began to look for other options. Won suggest to the airline rep that they use a South Pad spot, directly east of the Imperial Terminal ramp, to park their aircraft. However, due to the sensitive nature of the Boeing Satellite operation, it would not be advisable to walk the airline’s passengers across the Imperial Terminal ramp to the charter busses that would be staged along the Imperial Terminal curb. After consulting with Lacy, a senior Superintendent II, Won and Lacy decided to coordinate a LAWA bussing operation to transport the passenger directly to and from the aircraft. Won and Lacy’s proaction and coordination and detailed understanding of both operations allowed for both customers to accomplish their respective goals with minimal impact to either operation.

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152

AirportCenter

Rodney R

Vince Murray

Rodney anticipated that one of his airline station manager customers would be upset once he learned that his airline’s scheduled on time flight was placed at the West Gate parking. Rodney was proactive and used his experience and expertise to reconfigure his gate plan to allow that airline and another flight that had also been displaced to get assigned. This allowed both airlines to have their flights arrive at TBIT without the additional expense and time of bussing their passengers. Being a pro, Rodney made this reconfiguration occur seamlessly before the problem happened and thus neither customer was aware of what was being done on their behalf and the two flights arrived and passengers disembarked smoothly.

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151

AirportCenter

Rodney T

Dave Cardenas

Early one morning, the Airport Response Coordination Center, Duty Manager Rodney T, received a call from the Director of Postal Services for the United States inquiring about Post 1, at LAX, being out of service, stopping the delivery of mail to the airline for distribution. It appears that the post had been out of service for three (3) days. This delay has created a situation where the Postal Service was about to impose fines on the airlines for missing there obligation to move mail in a timely fashion. To solve their problem, Rodney was able to broker a deal with an officials Construction and Maintenance and Airport Police to have the barricades disabled to allow access, airport police would run alternative security measures to check badge status and access levels of employees to allow mail movement. The postal official was very happy and he said LAWA Ops engagement and proaction defused a potential fine issue on the airlines by the Postal Service, satisfied the Postal Service and enabled the movement of mail through this post.

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150

AirportCenter

Jane K

Rodney Thompson

A rep for an airline called upset about being assigned a west gate for his flight and the subsequent bus gate 111 assignment. He indicated that his airline had the bus gate the day before and the PA and SITA computer did not work properly. As such he requested a TBIT gate assignment, but nothing was available. Being proactive, Jane took another look at the gate plan for the day and noticed LH456 was about 45 minutes behind schedule. The upset rep’s airline arrival at 0700 was on gate 101 and was already assigned a west gate for departure. Because of the 6 hour ground time and 767 aircraft it is very difficult to justify this aircraft staying on a TBIT contact gate. Again being proactive Jane noticed that she could move several other flights to accommodate the rep on gate 101 for departure at 1300, and was assisted by Jose B. and Mike L. in helping make contact with the airline rep. The rep was very happy since this quick innovative action allowed the rep to keep his operation at gate 101 and not have to worry about ordering buses and extra resources.

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149

AirportCenter

Dee McK

Rodney Thompson

A station manager at TBIT was unhappy with remote gate 218 assignment (thought aircraft would not fit at this gate) and wanted to know why he was assigned a west gate. He also felt that his 777-300 would not fit at gate 218. Dee advised the manager that because of the TBIT construction the airport was short gates and airlines needed to be rotated to the remotes. Dee advised that we could not assign a TBIT gate, but could change the west gate assignment from gate 218 to 207 allowing the airline the ability to have a “drive through” gate. This will allow JAL to operate without having to push-back aircraft. Dee also explained that gate 218 will accommodate a 777-300 aircraft but there is limited room for the push-back tractor and tow bar, especially if tow bar is long. This made the manager happy and he said he was satisfied with gate 207 since Dee’s proaction on his behalf would allow him not have to worry about the tow bar situation at gate 218.

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148

PilotGroup

Cary S

Patricia E

As Patricia E., a LAWA OPS Duty Manager, explained: a very happy customer called to let us know that Cary S had gone above and beyond to help out the caller’s mother. Apparently the mom is a bit frail and given the confusing environment at LAX on a recent Friday night, she was also disoriented. Cary spent a considerable amount of time helping her mom, the caller said, and helped fine her bags, then find her, the daughter.

“It was obvious from her phone call that she had a positive experience at LAX, thanks to Cary,” said Patricia.

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147

CSR

Gemme Del M

Linda P-C

As Gemme clocked in and walked to her assigned post in TBIT early one morning she noticed an elderly couple who appeared confused and lost. She engaged them and learned that they were waiting for a tour guide to pick them up. Gemme was proactive and offered to call the tour service. She called not once, but twice then three times, and each time she was told the tour guide was on his way. Gemme used her calm manner to keep the couple calm, until finally hours later her phone rang, and it was the guide. She put him together with the couple, who thanked Gemme profusely for her kindness and concern and that never wavered.

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146

PilotGroup

LAWA OPS Staff

Oprah Winfrey Producers

John Grant and Phil Oglesby, senior producers with the Oprah Winfrey Network, wrote to commend a host of LAWA Ops employees who went to great lengths to help Oprah’s “Your Own Show” film its reality show at LAX. As Oprahs’ producers said, “Reality shows have become a major force in shooting around LA and have enormous importance to the industry which is responsible for nearly 350,000 jobs generating over 47 billion dollars to the local economy. With your help at LAX you help us keep production jobs in California. Thank you for your wonderful work!”

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145

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

At Terminal 3 on the Departure Level I noticed a woman praying. She got up and walked toward the TSA checkpoint to go to her gate. I said hello to her and as she passed by. But when I looked back to the place where she had been praying I noticed she’d left her California ID and her wallet on the floor. I called her back to retrieve her wallet and ID. She was overwhelmed and thanked me profusely.

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144

CSR

Cynthia D.

Osamu K.

A student arrived at LAX from China with his companion. They approached me at the Information desk very anxious because they needed to find out if they still had a hotel reservation they had made. They were afraid they had lost it. I was able to log onto the internet for them, and yes, they had lost their reservation, but then I used my experience to navigate through other choices for them until we found a hotel choice that pleased them. They were very excited and thankful, not only that I was able to get them a hotel room, but at the great price we got!

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143

CSR

Karen S

Rhea W.

A passenger lost her purse containing her Brazilian passport, airline tickets, wallet and all her identification. She was traveling with two other passengers, one spoke English, and served as translator.

I directed them to the Police Trailer at T-7. They came back distraught, without being able to find the purse. They continued on to Bradley Terminal. Approximately two minutes later a police officer came and said he had heard there was a passenger asking about a lost purse. He showed me the picture in the passport and it was her! The police officer left and I found the passengers and took them back to the police trailer.

The lady kissed me on both cheeks and hugged me. She was so grateful. Through the interpreter she wanted to give me a reward. I refused, she insisted, I refused and finally through the translator she said she would say many prayers for me!

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142

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

Sharon noticed a young Asian man walking inside and outside terminal 7. He did this several times. After several walkthroughs he disappeared. A short time later a woman came into the terminal and asked when the Beijing flight would be arriving. She said she had come to meet a young student. Sharon said that the carrier she identified did not have a non-stop Beijing flight into Los Angeles. The woman gave Sharon a flight number, and Sharon explained that that flight came from San Francisco. The woman then asked, “How long does it take to go through customs?” Sharon explained that the person would have cleared customs in San Francisco and suggested she should have her party paged that he might be in LA already. No one answered the page. After 15 minutes the woman returned and told Sharon that he might be on the next San Francisco flight. The woman went away saying she would be back. Sharon had a gut feeling. Within minutes after the greeter left, the young man who had passed through the terminal walked by again and Sharon asked him, “Are you a student from Beijing?” When he confirmed, she asked him to stay right there! The next San Francisco flight was arriving at 3:00pm. The greeter returned at 2:50. Sharon approached her and pointed out the young man. It was him!

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140

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

Robert E is a walking tourism encyclopedia, which makes him of great value to LAX travelers, according to his supervisor, Linda P-C. Here’s an example: a long-time-between-connections passenger wanted to go to a famous book store on the 8500 block of Melrose Avenue. Unfortunately, a taxi was not financially feasible – the passenger wanted to go by public transportation. I was not sure of the exact route by Metro, so I called Robert in terminal 2 for directions. Below, Robert takes over the story, look the detail in his story!

“We decided that Linda would send the passengers to terminal 2 so I could explain the complicated instructions, which I did. I told him that he could take the LOT C bus to Lot C and that the Lot C bus driver would show him how to get to the CITY BUS CENTER. I showed the passenger a picture of the CENTER from my manual, explaining where he could catch the Metro 439 bus to Fairfax and Venice, changing there to the Metro 105 to Melrose. I warned that, it being Sunday, bus frequency was probably about once an hour and getting back to the airport on time for his connection was essential. I then gave him a copy of the Metro 439 schedule, which included a map of his route and showed the connection to the Metro 105.

The passenger was not only grateful, he was amazed at the precise information we were able to provide.”

All in a day’s work for Robert!

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139

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C

Jan approached a young girl who seemed to be having trouble making a phone call. The girl was crying and very upset. She had a phone card but could not get the card to work. Jan helped her make the call to her father in Germany. The girl continued to cry when talking to her father. She explained to Jan that her carrier had lost her luggage with all her important papers including papers for her permit to work in Sydney.

Jan took her to look through all the bags in the storage area then to the baggage office to check further and to find out when the next JFK flight would arrive with her belongings. Then Jan gave her directions to get to the mall to buy a toothbrush and some clothes and took the young girl to the traveler’s aide desk for assistance to find a hotel for the night. The young woman appreciated the help and all Jan’s concern to get her set, stable and comfortable in LA until her luggage arrived and she could be on her way to Australia.

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138

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C

Jan was working in Term 7. The man was anxious. He had past by Jan several times. She asked him if he needed any help. He told Jan that he could not find his mother-in-law. Jan asked are you sure her flight landed? He explained that he was speaking with his mother in law on the phone when the phone went dead and he could not get her back on the phone.

The gentleman explained that his mother in law had just arrived in Los Angeles. Jan asked, “What was the last thing she said to you?” He said she told him that she was standing over here by the freeway.

Jan told him to go upstairs to the departures level and go out on the sidewalk and look for her at the end of the building. She showed him the elevator and off he went. Not everyone knows their way around LAX so Jan was careful to give him directions. The gentleman came back ten minutes later with his mother-in-law.

Terminal 7 is at the end of the U that runs around the front of the terminals. There is a street along the east of the terminal that brings cars into and out of the airport. The cars speed along very fast. The mother-in-law thought she was at the freeway entrance, but Jan’s quick thinking solved the problem and created a happy reunion!

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137

Bus

Jim G

Gary Carpenter

An airline representative was very upset because my bus was late to pick up his passengers. We were experiencing a bus shortage and I could understand why he was upset. I remained calm and apologized. I told him, again in a calm voice, that as soon as I had gotten the call I had hurried over to meet his needs, then I engaged him and told him now that I was here I would work as quickly as I could to load his passengers and get them on their way. He could see by my calm voice and proaction that I was trying, and finally he calmed down too and said, "Things happen," then he thanked me for doing everything I could to help his customers.

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136

Bus

Kenneth W

Mark B

A pax got on my bus at the remote terminal. He was upset because he didn’t know who I was or where I was taking him. He was anxious that he might miss his party, he said. I engaged him and gave him four pieces of critical information. 1) I told him where he was, 2) why he was arriving where he did, 3) where I was taking him – to TBIT and Baggage Claim, 4) Then I told him what to do to clear Customs quickly and assured him that he would meet his party after that. He thanked me for taking the time to ease his mind and for my sincerity!

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135

Bus

Julia R

Mark B

A pax arrived from China with limited English. I could see he didn’t understand why we were putting him on a bus. He told me he was nervous he would miss his tour guide. I could see all the members of his group were anxious too. I was proactive and realized that the best way to keep them calm was to make sure we got everyone in the group on the bus together. This helped, and I assured the man that once he and his group got through Customs their tour guide would know how to connect with them. Everything would be all right. But I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, so I made sure that we got the whole group off the bus together. This continued to keep them calm as they proceeded into baggage claim nice and happy and smiling.

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134

Bus

S. P.

Gary C

An airline agent and his passengers were upset because my bus was late. I apologized and assured them I would get them to the Bradley terminal as quickly as possible. I continued to engage them and again I apologized that the bus was late, but I told them my order was to get them to the terminal as quickly as I could, and I always take my orders seriously. They could see that I was completely focused on them and this calmed them and by the time we got to the terminal all was well and they all thanked me.

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133

Bus

Michael G

Gary C

A passenger didn’t want to get on the bus because he was claustrophobic. I assured him that I understood his need. The crowd on the bus gave him his trouble, he said, and didn’t want to get on with a crowd. I told him that I would come back for him and bring him to the terminal by himself and he thanked me for my extra effort to serve him.

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132

Bus

Lonn F

Mark B

We got a late dispatch and I was late pulling my bus up to the remote area. The airline agent was on the phone looking for me. I explained the situation in a calm manner and I told him I would load the bus as quickly as possible. Again, I apologized for the delay, and kept working while talking. I loaded the bus quickly, and the agent could see I was serious and he calmed down and thanked me.

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131

Bus

Edna J

Mark B

When I pulled my bus full of passengers to the aircraft, the airline agent signaled to me not to open the doors. She said she needed to attended to something first before the pax could get off and she got off the bus. This made the pax restless when they saw the agent get off and they started calling for me to open the doors. I acted proactively. I put myself into the middle of the situation and made an announcement that I would get the issue resolved, and I did. I spoke to the agent and we worked out a way to get the pax off the bus while the agent finished her business. Many of the pax gave me a cheer!

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130

Bus

Marcus W

Coordinator

An airline agent needed a bus immediately to get his pax from the remote area to the Bradley terminal. But at that moment, I was unloading pax from another flight with another airline. I could see him getting anxious, and I kept him calm by engaging him in a calm tone and told him that as soon as I was finished I would get right on it to meet his need. He said, “Great! That’s what I want to hear!” and he thanked me.

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129

Bus

Roger Y.

Coordinator

My bus was packed. People were upset that they had to be on a bus, when all they wanted was to be at the terminal. I engaged them and I apologized for any inconvenience. I spoke in a calm tone and told them it would just be a short five minute ride. Because I kept talking the five minutes went quickly, and before they knew it they were at the terminal – and they all were happy!

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128

CSR

Virginia W./Yvonne L.

Rhea W.

We had a group of senior citizens travelers attending a religious conference who were upset because they were unable to obtain wheelchair service to get them from the baggage area to their respective vans. To solve their problem, we contacted the airline to obtain wheelchairs as only the airlines are permitted to contact the wheelchair employees. We reassured the group that they would soon be taken care of. We stayed with them until the wheelchairs arrived and they got their luggage. Their greeter hadn’t arrived but we made sure that they got to their vans to proceed to their hotels. The customers left happy and asked for our supervisor’s name and phone number. Ms Anita Matthew later called stating that she couldn’t leave the airport without acknowledging the professionalism of Virginia and Yvonne. She said that these two employees went out of their way to make sure that their arrival to L.A. was pleasant. Ms Matthew said that they were polite, helpful, considerate and very professional. She ended by saying that more airports should have employees like these ladies.

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127

AirportCenter

Daphne C

Kathleen Emerson

LAWA Accounting has been frustrated with the Airfield Bus billing system since the change to the SITA RMS program one year ago. The trip charge disputes by the airlines have increased in the past months. Accounting will send the disputed charges to Airport Operations or Bus Operations for clarification for correction. To solve their problem, Daphne met with staff from LAWA Accounting, Airport Operations ARCC and Bus Operations. By viewing the billing sheets it became apparent that the RMS system is charging airlines for bus trips for parked aircraft and for crew trips. Parked aircraft appeared as live flights. The crew shuttles bus is operated without cost by for the TBIT carriers and the orders appeared as billable. Airport Operations and Bus Operations will review the bus activity and billing paperwork weekly. Charges that are erroneous will be identified and marked as “non-billable.” Accounting will receive the corrected paperwork and can bill the airlines timely and accurately. Daphne stepped in as a representative for the Gate Managers to attend the meeting on June 30th. She was highly proactive in her research and was able to identify most of the errors for the month of June. She took all the paperwork and went back to examine the past gate charts to determine the live flights versus the parked aircraft. Daphne took the extra initiative to be part of the solution.

Through Daphne’s efforts, LAWA Accounting knows that they will continue to have the participation of Airport Operations on the bus activity billing charges. In the end the airline tenants of LAX will receive a bill for bus trips that is more accurate.

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126

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C and Midori M

I was working TBIT departure when I noticed that the escalator was stopped. I went to the back to get the number to phone it in. I talked to some ladies who were standing at the bottom of the escalator. One lady, Edith Orner, was bleeding from a cut, about an inch long, on her lower leg. She asked for a band-aid. I asked what happened and I said I would take her to first aid. The other ladies, one of which had fallen on top of Edith, declined to go to First Aid and instead wanted to go with the others to the food court. I said I would bring Edith back to find them. I phoned the first aid office because no one answered their locked door. When they answered the phone I told the operator what we needed. He said they would send an ambulance. I said it was not a 911 call and we only needed first aid. They asked the age of the lady (81). And the 911 guys came anyway. They asked, Edith, what they could do for her. She pointed to the gash on her leg; they proceeded to wrap the wound. They then took Edith’s blood pressure, which was a little higher than normal she said but was obvious of no great concern. While this was going on I had gone back to find her friends. Edith was concerned about Lydia, who had fallen on her. Not finding her friends I returned to Edith and together we went to look for them. Edith was grateful for my help in finding some first aid.

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125

TSA

Welcome TSA!

TSA joins LAWA's "Resiliency Edge" Training and Incentive

LAWA and Project LIFToff are proud to welcome the TSA as participants in LAX's "Resiliency Edge" program!

Congratulations to the 48 TSA employees who took "Resiliency Edge" training on June 24 and now are part of the program's incentive.

Look for TSA success stories in this space - as participants in the training use the program's customer service "tools" to enhance the travel experience for LAX customers.

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124

CSR

Sandy W

Midori M

A lady arrived into LA ten hours late from Australia, and as a result missed her connection to Minnesota. With flights all booked they could not get her on a flight to Minn for two days, and when she learned that she broke down. She came to me in tears and said she had no idea what to do. She had no money and no place to stay. I engaged her and calmed her down telling her I would not desert her. I took her to her carrier’s counter and explained her situation to a rep, who also empathized with her. The airline was able to get her a voucher for two days for a hotel and meals and now her tears turned to tears of joy. She hugged me.

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123

CSR

Sandy W

Midori M

A man was stranded due to the volcanic ash disruption. He needed to find an internet kiosk where he could make alterations to his travel itinerary and rebook a connecting flight out of London. He was anxious since he could not find a way to get on the internet and he was afraid he would lose his connection once they got him to London. I told him not to worry, I knew exactly where we could go to find a business center in Tom Bradley terminal and I walked him over to it. There he was able to get all his trip alterations accomplished and with each key stroke he calmed down. Finally when everything was done, he looked at me and smiled. I felt good.

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122

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C

As Linda reported: Jan was in terminal 4 when she approached a passenger and asked her if she needed help. The passenger explained that she had been waiting for the 3 pm Bakersfield Bus, which never came. She and two other passengers waiting for the same bus had called the bus company. They were told that the bus was on it’s way and would be there shortly. Still no bus arrived. The woman decided to phone her husband to come and pick her up. At that point, Jan was proactive and explained to the woman that she could take a bus to Van Nuys and then her husband could pick her up at the Van Nuys flyaway stop. That would save her husband time and distance and get her home faster. The woman called her husband and they both thought that was a great idea. He was bringing their two children with him and the closer distance made that a great option for the family - who all thanked Jan very much for her quick thinking.

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121

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

I was working arrivals at Terminal 6 when a man asked me for help. His family was coming from London and he had gone to the Tom Bradley International Terminal to meet them, but there was no such flight there. Could I tell him how to get to the carrier’s desk to find out what had happened to the flight? I said: “Not to worry! You have arrived at the correct terminal by mistake. The flight you’re looking for, 6036, is really 935, and it is arriving right now. Stand here and I am sure your family will come through these doors soon.” Just then his wife and two children came through the door. As they left wrapped up in each other’s arms, he said “Thanks.”

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120

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

During the volcanic ash hiatus a young couple came to me and asked for a “holiday store.” Their return to Zurich, they explained in heavy accents but understandable English, had been delayed for a week. They thought they would use the delay to extend their holiday by going to a beach resort; they were thinking of Gulf or Caribbean resorts since they would be on the eventual way back to Zurich. I assumed, mistakenly, that they wanted a retail store to buy appropriate clothing, a “holiday store.” Between their English and my limited German, I finally figured out that what they wanted was a travel agency to help them find a resort and arrange to travel there. I made a personal phone call to someone who travels a lot, but he didn’t know of any near the airport. I was about to suggest a concierge at some LAX hotel when I noticed a computer bag with their luggage. I suggested they walk to the Bradley Terminal North end where there was a concession that offered internet access. If they were computer savvy, they could be their own “holiday store.” This idea really appealed to them, and off they went.

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119

CSR

Meraj Q

Marivi M-F

Working the Tom Bradley International Terminal can be a challenge for many reasons one of them is that we encounter passengers from all over the world and sometimes they are lost and confused. This was the case when an Asian passenger approached me with a piece of paper where she had a phone number written down. I figured it out based on the signed gestures that she wanted to call someone to tell them where she was to be picked up. I used the same piece of paper that she had to draw a little map to show her she was at the TBI Terminal between T4 and T3 she pointed at TBIT on the paper and I said yes. I saw her smiled and looking relieved and then she bowed her head saying thank you then walked away, problem solved!

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118

CSR

Wilmer D

Marivi M-F

During my shift I noticed a cell phone on top of a chair. I asked a couple of people if it belonged to them they said no. I searched for the last phone call that was made and when a man answered the phone I explained who I was, where I was calling from and the situation. He told me it was his father’s phone and his father had taken a fight to Oakland, which had already left. He must have lost his cell phone at LAX (that was not the first time, the son said) and I told him I would leave the phone at the baggage claim office. He said he was at Long beach but he would come to LAX to pick it up ASAP. I talked to the baggage claim office’s supervisor and left the phone with him. As it turned out I happened to be so lucky to see the man when he was picking up the phone. He was extremely appreciative because due to my honesty his father did not have to spend money on replacing yet another cell phone. He said if his father were there he would have kissed me!

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117

CSR

Wilmer D

Marivi M-F

When I was working T1 a passenger approached me asking for the Bakersfield shuttle. I checked my binder and saw that the shuttle had just departed (it was 1pm) and the next one was coming up at 3:00 p.m. I told the passenger that if he took the bus to T 7, where he needed to go,. I would contact my fellow coworker working at T7 so he could be on the lookout for him as well as the shuttle, and my coworker would meet him at the bus and show him where to go. The gentleman was very thankful and he told my coworker he really appreciated the team work that was demonstrated while helping him in his journey thru LAX.

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116

CSR

Gemme Del M

Marlene T

An elderly couple was sent back and forth between Terminals 1 and 7. They looked lost and confused. The elderly couple had just arrived from London and was connecting to Philadelphia. They were directed to an airline at Terminal 7 and when they got there another person sent them to US Airways at Terminal 1. After waiting in queue for thirty minutes they were told to go to Terminal 7 again. They were totally frustrated. I used one of my strengths from my Personal Resiliency Profile to solve the problem, I assured them that I worked for the airport and I was there to help assist them. I noticed they only had fifteen minutes to make their Flight back at Terminal 7. They were tired and irritated. I called the Ambassador working Terminal 7 and put her on the alert to look for this couple and assist them. I took them to the A bus and asked the driver to drop them at Terminal 7. My fellow Ambassador was waiting for them and immediately turned them over to an agent for their airline who expedited their way through security. They left me saying, “We appreciate your help, that’s what we call the spirit of team work.” My fellow Ambassador said they were very happy to be met by a friendly face to help expedite them through a tiring experience.

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115

CSR

Gemme Del M

Marlene T

An elderly lady who spoke very little English had spent the night at Tom Bradley waiting for her daughter to pick her up when I encountered her on my AM shift. I used strengths from my Personal Resiliency Profile to solve the problem, I asked her where her daughter was coming from and she answered “Seattle.” Upon further verification I found out that she had exited the wrong way and was supposed to have connected to Seattle the night before. I offered to call her daughter and she was relieved. Her daughter said she was a diabetic and they had not stopped looking for her at the Seattle airport all night long. I took the woman to her airline ticket counter whereby the agent explained her ticket had a lot of restrictions and she would have to pay the corresponding charges. I had the agent explain this to her daughter to resolve the issue and after a few minutes the agent said,
“She’s good to go.” I also requested a wheelchair for her from origin to destination to make sure she would be given the proper assistance. She left happy, saying, “God bless you” and “Thank you.”

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114

CSR

Jan L

Linda P-C

I was in terminal #5 baggage claim. All passengers had gone except one lady. I asked if she needed help. She said she could not find her bag and that she had to go to Santa Barbara. I asked if she would be taking the Santa Barbara Airbus. She said no she was flying. I asked to see her ticket. She said she did not have a ticket, that her son made her arrangements. I asked if I could phone her son. I could not get him and left a message. After looking further she found her ticket. It was on AA at terminal 4 and left in 30 minutes. To solve her problem, I walked her to the AA ticket counter and asked the agent to help her and get her a wheelchair. He said she would not make the flight if she waited for the wheelchair. I took her through security, she got searched!!! As we walked I could see she was slowing down as she walked with her cane. I asked if she was OK. She said I’m 97 years old. I was looking left and right for a wheelchair. I got her to the gate and we then had to take a tram. At the end of the tram ride there was a wheelchair. I asked the attendant if she would help the passenger to her plane. She said she would and that the passenger would make her flight. The customer said thank you for all your help and assistance. During the tram ride I called her son in Kansas. Then called her other son in Santa Barbara to let them know that she would make her flight.

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113

CSR

Karyul H

Sabrina A

I saw that a couple of a flight from Asia was having trouble getting processed in the Customs hall. They looked so upset and confused, so I engaged them. Their problem was they didn’t have a complete address to put on their declarations form, and since they didn’t speak English they did not understand that that was the problem delaying them. I spoke to them in Catonese, which calmed them, while I worked with the partial address and their daughter’s name in Phoenix. They had her phone number, but I could not get her on the phone. Instead I was proactive and used Google and I got the full address that way. Then I stayed with them and soon we got them processed. They were so happy they invited me to visit them in Canton province China. But I was just happy that I could help them, especially with their language issue.

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112

CSR

Michael V

Sabrina A

A man from Israel panicked when he saw the Customs officers. The CBP officials called me for assistance, since I spoke Russian and the man spoke no English. I was able to translate to him that he would be OK, they just needed to go through certain steps to process him. The way I spoke to him, in a calm and comforting voice, settled him down. I helped him get his luggage and we got him on his way. He hugged me.

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111

CSR

Edith A.

Sabrina A

A passenger from Argentina arrived, but she could not be processed because she did not have her daughter’s address or telephone number in LA. I used all my resourcefulness to try to help her, but no luck. Then I got an idea, to be proactive, and I went outside the FIS area and looked around for anxious people. Sure enough the first one I went up to with a worried expression told me that the lady from Argentina was his relative, and he was the son in law. I got his address and went back and gave it to the lady so she could add the address to her documents. She said, “May God bless you!”

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110

CSR

Raha A

Sabrina A

A father came to the Information Desk with two small children, three and four. The littlest one, his daughter, was crying and I could see the father was getting frustrated. I put him the “box” and focused on his need, which was to calm the girl first and get the info he needed. I spoke to the little girl and I asked her why she was so upset. She told me she had left her kuola backpack on the airplane. I knew what to do – I called the carrier and asked if they could check. While I gave the father the info he needed, the carrier did a search and sure enough they found the backpack and soon the little girl had it in her hands. No more crying, now she was cheery and dancing. The father thanked me.

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109

CSR

Sara J

Sabrina A

A passenger from Israel looked weak. She told me he had recently had brain surgery, and I could see she was nervous and confused. I spoke Farsi to her and that calmed her. I explained that everything would be OK, that I was there to help her, and I conducted the translation for her to get through primary Immigration. The lady hugged me with tears in her eyes.

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108

CSR

Christina S

Sabrina A

A traveler from Korea had to stay overnight in Secondary Two. She was upset, lost and confused because she had no idea why she was there and she could not communicate because of the language issue. I spoke Korean to her and immediately her face got color back into it. I used a gentle voice to explain her situation, and explained what she needed to do to be processed and this worked. She nodded that she understood and she was able to communicate what the officers needed. The whole time she held my hand, very tight. Soon the sad look went out of her face and she brightened as she made it out of the FIS and it made me feel good to help her.

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107

CSR

Richardo V

Chris G.

While I was working in the FIS area I saw an arriving passenger in her 80s trip and fall. I rushed to her and comforted her. She was OK but she was scared. I stayed with her and I used my proaction skill to get her to the head of the line so she could be processed quickly. Her face softened and she calmed down and thanked me.

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106

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

A couple came up to me during a slow period at Terminal 6 and asked for directions to a shopping center. It seemed they had been on a two week cruise, and their next flight would leave around 1 am, in ten hours. I mentioned how important it was that wherever they go, they had to be sure to get back in time to check in, that a taxi would cost about $30 each way, and that it would be getting dark around 8:45 or 9 pm. They asked for alternatives, so I explained that the Howard Hughes Center and Westfield’s Mall to the North and the La Plaza el Segundo and Manhattan Beach Mall to the south could be reached by public bus. That would also give them a sure way to get back to the airport in time, and the cost would be less than $5. I happened to have timetables for the Culver City Bus 6 and the Metro bus 232. I took them to the Lot C bus stop and explained that the Lot C driver would show them how to get to the LAX City Bus Terminal. They were so impressed that I could be such a full service local tourism guide!

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105

CSR

Robert E.

Linda P-C

A well dressed young man came up to me at the Bradley Terminal Departures Level and asked if I could show him to a mail box. I explained that there were no mail boxes at LAX, but, if he had time, he could take his mail to a Post Office off the airport. He explained that he had been driving from his home in Santa Clarita to begin a business trip that would take him out of the country for more than three weeks when he got a ticket for speeding. His flight was scheduled to leave in one hour. He was afraid that if he didn’t mail in the fine before he left the country that the fine might multiply. I suggested that he go to the desk of his airline. They might be able to mail the letter for him . A few minutes later he stopped by with a smile on his face and said he had taken my suggestion and at the airline desk he had run into an acquaintance from his office who had agreed to mail the fine for him.

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104

AirportCenter

Lester V

Rodney T

One day we were swamped. Planes were coming in late, all arriving at the same time, and they all needed gates. Just then a call came in from a woman who said her mother, an 80 year old lady, had left her purse at Cinnabun in Terminal 6. She explained that she had googled the airport and somehow the phone rang with me. She pleaded with me to help her and even though our pace was hectic, I didn’t want to disappoint her. So I did some research and looked up the number for Cinnabun and gave it to her. She thanked me, but I wanted to double check so I called the number after I hung up with her. It rang through to Coffee Bean, which recently had been assigned that number from Cinnabun. I got the correct number for Cinnabun from Coffee Bean and just as I had finished writing it down my phone rang again. It was the lady with the 80 year old mother, frantic again. I told her I had the current number for Cinnabun now and she was grateful. She called back a short time later to tell me that she had made the connection with Cinnabun and they had her mom’s purse safe and sound and she was so relieved and she was grateful for all my efforts to help her.

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103

AirportCenter

Lacy S

Rodney T

At the ticket counters the digital display signs go dark after a certain amount of time. The software program is written that way to allow for different carriers to post different flights. But one carrier had a need to remain at the counter for a series of flights and they needed an adjustment made to put in an “override” to allow the digital display to remain on and not go dark. To meet their need I took it on myself to work on my own time and see what I could do. I called our software vendor and I brainstormed with him on how we could do this. It took a while, but eventually we found a way. I was happy to do this, to accommodate our airline customer’s need.

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102

AirportCenter

Mike V

Coordinator

All TSA passenger checkpoint screening at Terminal 7 was closed for more than 90 minutes due to a screening breach. This stopped screening at Terminals 5, 6, 7, & 8 as all are connected via corridors on the sterile side of screening. To solve passengers’ problems, I met with Airport Police and TSA at the Command Post at Terminal 7 screening and after the situation was resolved I partnered with Mike Corlett and Steve Sipos of Airfield Operations to facilitate the restart. I briefed the Terminal 6 Airlines managers of what the problem was, how it was resolved, what time screening was restarted, and our action plan to expedite the return to normal operations for their airlines. I further advised the airlines that I would be remaining at Terminal 6 until normal operations were restored and offered to help in any way they requested. I then floated between the screening checkpoint and the Customs hall to ensure that all passengers, both arriving and departing were handled in the fastest manner possible. Mark Weller worked with Mike Corlett at Terminal 5 and they worked quickly to balance the screening lines between Terminals 5 and 6. I heard words of thanks and gratitude from many travelers that I spoke with along with various airline, service companies and concessions employees. All appreciated hearing about LAWA's sincere efforts to mitigate the unfortunate and unpleasant situation as quickly as possible.

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100

AirportCenter

Rodney R

Rodney T

We have six baggage carousels in the Tom Bradley International Terminal baggage claim area. The airlines like to have a carousel all to themselves for their arriving passengers. As best we can we all try to accommodate them. But sometimes flights will be delayed and other times ten flights will all arrive simultaneously and it doubling up on the carousels becomes necessary. In these cases, I am proactive. For example one night recently I had ten flights all arrive at the same time, and I worked to match up flights with similar carriers so that I could assign two flights belonging to the same carrier to a carousel to share it. They liked this solution and it allowed them to keep their passengers together. I do this as much as I can.

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99

AirportCenter

Daphne C

Rodney Thompson

I know it might seem like a little thing, but when I do the gate scheduling I look for ways I can help our airline partners in ways they may have never considered. For example I know there’s one carrier that flies to Japan that likes to have its gate assignments on the north end of Bradley. There’s another airline that likes the south end since all their admin offices are close by those gates. Whenever I can I create gate assignments that gives each of them the gates that work best for them. A little thing maybe, but I know it creates conveniences for them and their passengers.

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98

AirportCenter

Daphne C

Rodney Thompson

When an international flight arrives, Customs blocks off domestic access to that arriving gate so the passengers departing off the international flight can go directly to the Customs hall. One day a flight from Japan was four hours late. It was supposed to get in at 9:00 am, which would have been fine for the domestic carrier which operates at that gate area in the afternoon. But since the Japan flight didn’t get in until the afternoon I could see that was going to affect one of our domestic carriers which would not be able to use the boarding gate that had been assigned to it. I was proactive and I anticipated the problem and I engaged other carriers to find a way I could meet their needs, but also free up a new gate for the domestic airline affected by the late flight from Japan. I was able to do that and therefore the passengers on the afternoon domestic flight never had any negative impacts.

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97

AirportCenter

Jonel G

Rodney Thompson

I knew the volcanic ash issue had caused a lot of frustration for our airline partners and their passengers, so I created a spread sheet that could provide a daily log of the numbers of flights that were delayed and the number of PAX affected. Each day during the crisis I would call each airline and get their numbers. That way I had the report ready when the PR department called. I was proactive by thinking of our Public Relations Division and media outlets because I knew they had to get the numbers to the outside media without delay and I wanted to meet their need as much as I could.

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96

AirportCenter

Lacy S

Rodney Thompson

I try to be as proactive as possible when I do the scheduling for airline gates and I pay particular attention to how I type in the model number for an aircraft when I make an assignment. This is critical because some aircraft, such as an A 380, which carries 500 people, can only use certain gates. If a number gets transposed into the computer during typing that could create a situation whereby the plane arrives and gets sent to a gate that cannot accommodate it. That would inconvenience 500 people, and so I am very careful!

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95

AirportCenter

Carlyle K

Rodney Thompson

Carlyle K
Rodney Thompson

Recently we had two military transports scheduled to come into LAX. When that happens we give priority to the military to find them gates. The problem was that after we had done our scheduling to accommodate the transports, the military called to tell us that the arrival of the two planes was going to be delayed 24 hours. That means that all the scheduling we had done needed to be redone. I called the airlines whose gate assignments would be affected the next day and I engaged them in a calm way. I explained the situation and asked for their cooperation to work with us as we redid gate assignments. I was proactive and did my homework to find some gate switches I could achieve without inconveniencing the airlines too much, and this helped because a few of the airlines thanked me. The airlines knew the urgency in accommodating the military and were happy I had worked out as much of the switching as possible in advance so we could save passengers from being disrupted

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94

CSR

Wilmer D

Marivi M-F

During my shift at terminal 1, I encountered a passenger who had a panicked look on his face. He told me he had just gotten off one of the airport shuttles and had left a folder with his passport in it. He was desperate because he did not know what to do. I comforted him by saying I would go and get one of the shuttles and would ask the driver to communicate via radio with the dispatcher so he/she could let all the drivers know about the folder and would look for it. I could see the color coming back into his face. Within 20 minutes a driver arrived and delivered the folder with his passport. The passenger kept on thanking me for what I had done. He said he could not believe some one had gone the extra mile for him and said I had saved his life! He wanted to give money, but of course I would never accept money. I did it because that was my duty and because I love helping people!

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93

CSR

Anna H

Marlene T

A French lady arrived at the airport early to find that her connecting flight from LAX to HOU was departing two hours late. This would mean she would miss her international connection to Paris. She was crying and asked me for help. I engaged her and immediately took her back to the airline counter whereby an agent placed her on standby for the earlier Houston flight so she could make her connecting flight to Paris. Thinking creatively like this worked and the lady was so happy she hugged me and couldn’t stop thanking me.

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92

CSR

Novella K

Marivi M-F

A couple came out of an international fight and looked confused. I asked them if I could help and they proceeded to tell me they wanted to go to Santa Monica but did not know how to get there. To solve their problem I gave them all their options: they could take city transportation bus, a taxi or the share ride vans. This might seem like a little thing, but not to them. They were extremely grateful that I took so much time to make them feel welcome to LA and went through all the details on each potential transportation choice. The couple decided on the shared ride van services. They were happy, which made me happy!

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91

CSR

Anna H

Marlene T

A Serviceman and his family came into Terminal 5 from Hawaii. He was extremely agitated. He had left all his pertinent information, transfer orders and tickets on the aircraft. He was continuing to North Carolina. I immediately realized his distress and engaged him in conversation then took him and his family to the baggage claim service so agents from their carrier could make a call to inspect the airplane. He remembered his seat number. This proactive step worked! The agents found his documents and returned them to him. He and his family could not have been happier!

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90

CSR

Wilmer D

Marivi M-F

I was working terminal 6 at the gate area. There my main duties are to direct passengers with connecting fights to the shuttle before having to go out of the secure area. This particular day I noticed more that the usual number of passengers who required the shuttle services. I found that due to the long lines at terminal 5 the passengers were being directed to go thru security at T6 but were departing from T5. I encountered an elderly lady who expressed to me that if she had to walk the long tunnel leading to the shuttle she would not make it in one piece. So I told her to wait a second and I went to get one of the wheel chair employees to take her to the shuttle, which they did. The lady was very happy. She smiled, held my hand and said “Thank you”.

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89

CSR

Sandra W

Marivi M-F

I was engaging as I approached a person that looked confused. He asked me what the process was for a diplomat arriving from Melbourne, Australia. He told me he was an Australian commissioner and the passenger he had come to meet was the Governor of Australia. He wanted to know if he could go and meet the Governor at the gate. I found out that the Commissioner had the proper ID and paper work that would allow him to enter the US Customs’ area, so I took him to the Security guard’s desk to inform them about the situation. Then the Commissioner proceeded to the gates, but before he left he told me how impressed he was with my decisive action, but also he said that he was pleasantly surprised to see LAX so service minded and so geared up to meet a need such as his.

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88

CSR

Sharon R

Marlene T

A lady came to me at Terminal 6 at the gate area very upset. She was crying hysterically, and I stepped forward to soothe her. She had missed her flight to Honolulu, and she was upset because she thought she would lose the money she paid for her ticket plus lose her chance of getting there. I engaged her with eye contact and calming words, telling her everything would be all right and that I was with her now. She calmed down enough for me to walk her back to the airline ticket counter where I found someone who would help her. The agent saw how upset she was too and immediately rebooked her on the next flight. Right away she began smiling and that made me feel very good.

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87

PilotGroup

Sharon R

Marlene T

I spotted a woman with an infant and a toddler sitting in baggage claim and I noticed she had been there for almost two hours. I engaged her, but she did not speak English so I looked at her luggage to get her name and I addressed her by name and asked if I could help her. She showed me her ticket and I saw that the flight she had been scheduled to connect with had departed an hour earlier. I continued to engage her and I offered to walk her and her young children up to the ticket area. There I found an airline agent and explained the situation, and the agent responded to her need also, and rebooked her on a flight to Reno leaving in another hour. I walked the woman and her babies to the Security line and made sure they got through Security and got to their gate. The look in the lady’s eye was worth a million dollars.

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86

PilotGroup

Myrl W

Marivi M.

A family approached me very upset because they had misplaced their hotel and Super Shuttle vouchers for Disneyland. They didn’t know whether they had left the vouchers on the plane or at the departure gate back in Vancouver, British Columbia where they had flown in from. I engaged them to calm them down and I assured them I would help them. I called to their carrier’s rep, who called the arrival gate where their plane was still parked, but there were no vouchers there. And so we kept trying. I called another agent for that airline and that agent called to Vancouver, and sure enough the gate agent in Canada had them in hand. We explained to the family that the packet would be put on the next plane from Vancouver and soon they would have their tickets to Disneyland. They told me they were very impressed that I knew exactly what to do, and they thanked me.

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85

PilotGroup

Marge M and Marilyn R

Marlene T and Rhea W

Two ladies were very upset because their flight to Fiji got cancelled. They were headed to a remote area near Fiji to see their missionary children and their grandkids. The ladies approached Marge and Marilyn for assistance, and the two worked together to explore how to get them rebooked. The carrier they were on had only two flights a week and that meant the ladies would have to wait four days until the next flight, and would miss seeing their missionary children. Marge and Marilyn continued to think proactively and they came up with a way that got them on an alternate carrier, a flight that got the ladies out and on their way that evening. Two weeks later Marilyn was working in Terminal 6 when one of the ladies spotted her and told her how wonderful their trip had been. They got a chance to see their missionary children and grandchildren and none of that would have been possible without the help and creative efforts of Marge and Marilyn.

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84

PilotGroup

lLynda C.

Linda P-C

A mother and daughter were late arriving in LA and they missed their cruise that they had come to catch. It was a $5000 cruise and when they called they were told that in fact the ship had left and there was nothing that could be done. I engaged them to show that I cared, and together we came up with the idea that they might call their cruise insurance person, and they did. That person suggested that they might want to fly to the first port of call for the ship and hope they could get on there. He said he would investigate to see if that could work. They were upset and anxious, but they were very happy that I stayed with them and comforted them and tried to help. I found them a hotel they could stay at overnight while the insurance man investigated, and as I sent them on a shuttle bus to the hotel we did not have a resolution, but we had hope!

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83

PilotGroup

John S

Marivi M.

This is a short story, but it had a big impact. A woman was frantic because she didn’t have change to make an important phone call. I adapted to her situation and I was also proactive because I suggested she use my cell phone. She did and got through to the person she needed to contact quickly and she was very grateful.

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82

PilotGroup

Geraldine G

Sabrina A

I was working at the information counter at the departure level when two very upset passengers approached me and asked for help with a serious situation. They had just arrived from back east. It was a father and daughter. They came to meet the man’s wife and deliver some very sad news. The news was that there had been a death in the family and they needed a quiet, private place to deliver the news. Immediately I engaged them and told them there was a small, private room that I thought they could use, and I offered to check on it. I got approval and got a key and I took them there. They were so relieved, I could see it in their faces. I was just happy that I could bring comfort to them at such a painful time.

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81

PilotGroup

Verena K.

Sabrina A

Four travelers from Germany approached me asking if I could page a member of their party they could not find. The person had been with them, but got separated. I conducted a page, but still the person did not respond. The four, who did not speak English, were getting progressively more upset, and so I was proactive and called police. This produced the answer because the police reported that a man by that name had slipped and fallen outside and had been taken to a local hospital. I was able to translate for the people, then I helped them get a rental car so they could hurry off and meet their person at the hospital. They were still very upset, but relieved and grateful for all the help I gave them. They told me that.

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80

PilotGroup

John S

Marivi M.

This is a report by Marivi M: suddenly John S was seen running toward the middle aisle at Terminal 3. He was followed by Supervisor Rhea W. At first it was hard to detect what they were running toward, until it became evident that a man was lying on the pavement. He had fallen and he had some bleeding on his head. Immediately, John called for assistance as Rhea calmed the man and assured him he would be OK. The two of them worked to keep him comfortable, while also working to divert cars so the man would not be hit. Soon help arrived, but I want to commend John and Rhea for doing what one human should always do for another!

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79

AirportCenter

Paul N

Rodney Thompson

One afternoon the gate control software failed. This created havoc and confusion for all our airline carrier partners in the Bradley Terminal whose flight information boards suddenly went dark. I, along with all my colleagues on duty in the Airport Center, used our adaptability strength and we went into a manual mode. We were proactive as well and we immediately began calling the all carriers to notify them about the problem. We told them about our action plan and how we were implementing manual procedures to get information about arriving and departing flights up onto their boards for their customers. This calmed them that we were so proactive, and we stayed with it, working manually and letting our partners know that everything that could be done was being done. We worked this way for several hours until the system came back up, and even then we continued to engage the reps from the carriers to keep them informed and up to date each step of the way until things returned to normal.

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78

AirportCenter

Rodney R

Rodney Thompson

I sent an arriving flight to the remote gate so I could accommodate a Lan Chile flight which had just arrived from that earthquake-stricken country. I could sense that the representative from the carrier I sent to the remote area was upset because his passengers would have to be bused back to Bradley from the remote area. I continued to engage him and I explained the reasons for my decision in a calm tone. I told him about curfew issues out of Santiago, Chile and the special needs the Lan Chile flight had. That calmed him down that I would take time to explain the situation in a calm, measured tone and in full detail. He accepted my decision and said he understood.

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77

AirportCenter

Neil T

Rodney Thompson

A traveler was frustrated because he was supposed to meet someone on World Way West, but he ended up at the Bradley terminal and was very lost. His call came into the Airport Center as I was on the other line with an airline carrier handling gate management issues, but I could hear the frustration in the man’s tone. I asked him to hold a moment while I finished up with my carrier contact, and that calmed him, that someone would care and not abandon him. A moment later I got back on the line with him and used my knowledge of the airport to paint a visual picture. I gave him “markers” that he could follow out of the terminals area and find his way to World Way West. He thanked me profusely and told me I was very professional.

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76

AirportCenter

Jonell G.

Rodney Thompson

A carrier station manager called very upset because he was about to board a flight which was leaving from the remote area, but the gate for the bus to that remote area was blocked off for repairs. I calmed him by telling him I would investigate, which I did on the spot and I discovered that someone had made a keystroke error in the computer. I continued to engage the airline manager telling him I was sorry that the error had occurred and I took full responsibility, but most of all while talking to him in a calm tone I worked quickly and I found him a bus gate very close to the original one where he had been sending his passengers. This made him happy that I was pro active and took control and fixed the problem so quickly. Then I was proactive again and I called over to our OPS department in the terminals and I asked if one of our supervisors could hurry over to the gate area I had given him and help direct his passengers onto their buses. Then I called the airline manager back and told him we had someone hurrying over there to help. This reassured him too, then one last thing I was proactive, and the next day I called him to apologize again for the computer error. He thanked me for being so thorough and helpful.

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75

AirportCenter

Norris

Rodney Thompson

An airline rep called me upset because there was a computer glitch and he couldn’t make an update to the message board at his boarding gate. The message said “Delayed,” and he wanted to update it to say, “Boarding.” After a mechanical their plane and was ready for boarding, but passengers were milling at the gate confused, and he needed to give them the latest information. Since I’m new at my job and had not yet had a situation like this, I turned to Lacy sitting beside me while I kept the airline agent calm, Lacy called our IT department. But IT couldn’t make the adjustment from their end, and so Lacy and IT called our vendor, who made the fix to the glitch on his end. All the while, I continued to keep the airline rep engaged and informed of the steps we were taking, and this calmed him down. As soon as we had the problem fixed, he said “Thank you, you guys are great!”

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74

AirportCenter

Lacy S

Rodney Thompson

An LAPD officer called the center very anxious. He was trying to make contact with one of his fellow officers who was on a flight. He wanted me to confirm if his colleague was in the air yet and what time he would arrive. He didn’t know his colleague’s airline. I engaged him, which calmed him, then I explained that we did not have access to airline passenger manifests from our end. But I could sense his anxiety and I assured him I would help him. I asked him what city his colleague was going to, and he said Chicago. Then I checked and saw that we had four airlines flying to Chicago at that time. I asked him to wait a moment, and I found the phone numbers for each of the four. I told him to call each one and give his colleague’s name and they could confirm which flight the other police officer was on. He was very happy and he said thank you for my attention to him and working through each step patiently.

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73

AirportCenter

Welcome - AC Team

Airport Center Success Stories

We're proud to welcome members of LAWA's Airpot Center into LAWA and Project LIFToff's "Resiliency Edge" customer service program.

Superintendents who operate the Airport Center play a critical role shaping positive impression for both internal and external LAX customers.

We are grateful to the team from the AC for joining the program and participating in "Resiliency Edge" training - we look forward to seeing customer service "success stories" from the AC in this space on the LAX Story Page.

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72

PilotGroup

lLynda C.

Linda P-C

Lynda was working in Terminal 7 when a young woman with a baby approached her. The woman said she was waiting for her sister and brother-in-law to come pick them up. They had gone to the parking garage to get their car, but the woman had no way to communicate with her sister to let her know she was at Terminal 7. Lynda let her use her cell phone and the woman called the sister. That worked, because before long the sister and brother in law pulled up in an SUV. They had an elderly woman in the front seat who did not speak English, and the brother in law explained that she was lost and trying to get to a destination in the city where they were going, three hours away. Since the family was heading in that direction, and to be kind, the brother in law had told the elderly woman that the family would give her a ride. And so off everybody went. Then about a half hour later, Lynda was passing by Travelers’ Aid when she heard a woman say with great alarm, “No mother, no mother!” As Lynda listened, she put two and two together and realized that the elderly woman in the front seat of the SUV had been this woman’s mother. The elderly woman had arrived from Mexico, the daughter said, but obviously she was totally confused and thought she was supposed to make her own way to her destination. So again Lynda was proactive and she called the last number on her cell phone – which rang now in the SUV as it sped away. She explained the situation to the family in the car. They understood completely and brought the elderly woman back for a reunion with her daughter – and everything ended well. Thanks of course to Lynda and her proaction!

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71

PilotGroup

Lilibeth W

Sabrina A

A family from India was standing in a long line waiting to be processed. The mother looked exhausted and her two young children were crying. They didn’t speak English and looked confused. That’s when I stepped up and engaged them. A recent immigrant myself, I empathized with them. Communicating was not easy but the universal language of a smile, along with some snacks for the kids, worked wonders. I let them know that everything would be fine, and I spoke to an Immigration officer who could see their plight also, and he helped expedite their passage. The woman had tears in her eyes when she thanked me, tears of joy. All of this strengthens my personal resiliency to solve problems.

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70

PilotGroup

Edith A.

Sabrina A

It was a hectic day – there wasn’t room for one more soul in the FIS! Suddenly a woman trembling reached out for me and said, “Help me!” She told me that she was a US citizen, and her husband was a German citizen. The line for the non US citizens was very long, but she said she had just had an operation and she was too weak to wait on the line. She needed her husband to stay with her. She pointed to the bandages from the operation which I could see between the buttons on her blouse. I called the CBP supervisor, and he got her processed right then and there. Then he took the husband to be processed, and we found a place where the woman could sit while waiting for her husband. “Thank you, baby,” she said.

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69

PilotGroup

Verena K.

Chris G.

I came across a cell phone that had been left at the Currency Exchange booth. I was proactive and called the last number on it, but the person spoke French. I told them to wait, and I was able to find someone to translate. Through this process I learned that the owner of the phone was staying at a hotel in Beverly Hills. I called the hotel and they connected me to the man’s room. I left a detailed message, with my personal cell phone number, and before long he called me back and we made arrangements for him to get the phone. He said, “Merci beaucoup!!!!!!!”

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68

PilotGroup

Lilibeth W

Sabrina A

A traveler could not show an address for the person he was visiting and thus he could not get through the inspection process. I could see how upset he was after he got turned back. I was proactive and I investigated and found that the person he would be staying with was out in the terminal waiting for him. I got the phone number for that person from him, and called. That solved two things, first it calmed the person out in the lobby, to know that his friend was OK, and secondly, I got a proper address to put on the traveler’s document to get him cleared to go. The traveler thanked me profusely, and that gave me a good sense of accomplishment.

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67

PilotGroup

Robert E.

Turken Y

“I can’t find my dog!” was the first thing the man said. He had flown in from New Zealand but because his carrier could not take the dog he had booked passage for the animal on another carrier. It was 1pm, and the broker who booked the dog’s passage confirmed that the dog had arrived at 6am. The man went to the dog’s carrier, but the agent couldn’t find any record. Now he was getting nervous, since he had to make a connecting flight at 5pm – and still he couldn’t find his dog. I calmed him by being proactive telling him I would investigate. I called an airline security agent, and together we came up with the idea of contacting the CARGO office for the dog’s carrier. This worked! They had the dog over in their cargo lot. But that presented another problem – the cargo office was on Empire Blvd and the man was at Bradley terminal. Again, I was proactive and I found a cab that was big enough to carry a dog crate. Off the man went to retrieve the dog. When he returned, with the dog in tow, the man thanked me – and the dog gave me a “thank you” bark!

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66

PilotGroup

Letecia M

Sabrina A

An elderly woman was wandering around the Customs hall when I approached her and asked if I could help. When she saw me she started to cry, but they were tears of relief, that someone would show interest in her. She was lost she said and didn’t know how to do the inspection process. I told her not to worry, and I worked with her to complete all her forms properly and I helped her get though the process without and problems. She was so happy. She hugged me and told me I was a sweet person.

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65

PilotGroup

Letecia M

Sabrina A

We were experiencing a very busy day, when a service man came up to me very anxious. He said he had only an hour to catch his flight to Dallas so he could visit his family, who had not seen in a year. If he missed his flight, he would not be able to get on another, he said. I could see the nervousness in his eyes and I was proactive. I went to a Customs supervisor to explain the soldier’s predicament, and the Customs agent found a line that he could put the soldier in. This worked, and the soldier got through and got going. He looked back and the big smile he gave me said it all.

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64

PilotGroup

Jessica L

Sabrina A

After being in line a long time a traveler was told he was missing a form and that he would need to make the line again. This made him very angry and his reaction was to yell at the first person in a uniform he came to – me! I remained calm and in a gentle voice I explained why he needed the extra form and I offered to help him get it done. This calmed him down, that someone was on his side, and he told me he was upset because he had a connecting flight to make. I told him not to worry, we would get it done, and we did. Soon he was on his way, in a much happier mood, and he said, “Thanks, Doll!”

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63

PilotGroup

Ping Ping H

Sabrina A

Two elderly ladies in their seventies were taking the first flight of their lives and they were nervous and upset by all the processes to get through F.I.S. inspections. I greeted them with a friendly smile to show them my interest. I engaged them with my body language and explained the inspection process step by step, going very slowly, so they could fully understand. I have a saying I say to myself when I’m working: “Be kind, gentle, patient.” When the ladies were through Customs they were all smiles themselves and they told me, “Keep that smile.”

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62

PilotGroup

Ping Ping H

Sabrina A

At the baggage secondary a mother and her son drew a lot of attention since they were both crying. I engaged them and learned that they were upset with the Customs process since they couldn’t express what they wanted to say. I speak Chinese and the minute the woman saw that she stopped crying and brightened up. I translated for her, then translated back what the Customs official was trying to explain, and before long we had everything worked out and the mother and son were no longer upset. In fact, just the opposite. The mother told me how grateful she was as they passed along their way.

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61

PilotGroup

Shumei L

Sabrina A

A lady was upset because she kept saying she needed a “light outlet.” I engaged her so she could see someone taking an interest and as I explored what she wanted I learned that she had asthma and was having trouble breathing. She told me she needed to hook up her breathing machine. By “light outlet” she meant “electrical socket,” and I found her one. Then I helped her set up her machine and this calmed her down and told me, “I love you!”

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60

PilotGroup

Khandsuren B

Sabrina A

A woman had never flown so far, across the ocean, and she was exhausted, both because she had been in the air so long plus she had her 14 month old grandson with her. I could see how exasperated she looked and I engaged her and the minute I began speaking her language she brightened up and tears of joy appeared on her face. I was able to help her complete her documents, which had confused her, and then I helped with translation for her with the Customs and Agriculture officials. More tears of joy! She told me she would never forget me.

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59

PilotGroup

Nancy C

Sabrina A

A woman from Australia wanted to go back to Sydney to join her husband, but she was waiting to get a Visa issue resolved and it was taking time. She was upset because she had no money and no food and had spent the night in the airport. I approached her to learn about her problem and she calmed down telling me all this. Then I came up with the idea of bringing her to Travelers Aide and when I walked her there, they were able to get her something to eat and suddenly for the first time a big smile came on her face.

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58

PilotGroup

Nancy C

Sabrina A

A flight from Mexico was delayed from 8:30 to 14:30 and the meeters and greeters waiting got very anxious. I could see that and I was proactive and I went up to people to keep them apprised of the latest developments with the flight. This might seem like a small thing but it was a big thing to them, that someone would engage them, and many thanked me.

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57

PilotGroup

Christina A

Sabrina A

A woman looking for the rest room lost her way and got lost in the airport. I approached her to learn why she was crying and she said she was lost and needed to get back into the gate area to catch her flight, which was leaving soon. I engaged her, to show her my concern, and this calmed her. Then I was proactive and learned more details about where she had wandered from and where she needed to go, and we got her back on the right track, and she made her flight with a few minutes to spare. I was happy I could make that happen.

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56

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Christina A

Sabrina A

A woman was upset because her documents were not filled out properly and she could not clear Customs as a result. I engaged her so she could see that someone was taking an interest. Still I explained that she needed to provide full information, including an address for someone she would be visiting in the US. I was proactive and I helped her go through her records and find the address in LA where she would be staying, then I was patient and worked with her to complete the document. She stopped crying and left thanking me for getting her through.

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55

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Verena K.

Chris G.

A medical team driver told me he needed to pick up a sick traveler who was scheduled to arrive from Thailand. The driver was anxious because he couldn’t find the proper official in F.I.S. to talk to. I called my supervisor, Chris, and we called the F.I.S. desk to arrange for a rep from the traveler’s carrier to come up and meet the medical team driver. I could see the driver was nervous since this was a sick traveler involved, and he wanted to ensure maximum care. I engaged him so he could see I was doing everything I could to speed up the process and in fact my efforts worked, because soon the airline rep and the F.I.S. all came together to get the traveler and the medical team united. I was delighted to see everyone get their needs met.

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54

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Nina P

Turken Y

A woman was dropped off at the wrong terminal. She had a lot of bags and a baby in a stroller. She was about to cry when I approached her. I learned that she needed to get to Terminal 4 and I offered to walk her there. This calmed her down, especially the way I was able to help with the baby and the luggage. When we got to Terminal 4 she gave me a big hug!

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53

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Nina P

Turken Y

A woman arrived from Sydney six hours late and missed her connecting flight. She was very upset at the long line waiting to book a hotel and I engaged her. I told her I could help her. I told her I knew how to find a hotel that could provide a “delayed passenger” rate. This calmed her. I gave her a number, then waited while she called several hotels and she found a $55 rate. She told me I made her day.

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52

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Anna H

Marivi M-F

A man was confused because he didn’t know if he was supposed to go to the US Airways gates, or if he was on United. He couldn’t determine his carrier and he said he had been given some conflicting instructions. I overheard him explaining all this to a shuttle driver, and I stepped in and engaged him before he could get on the bus and possibly head off to the wrong terminal. I did a quick read of his ticket and I determined that in fact he was on United, and going to US Airways would take him to the wrong place. I sent him in the right direction, and he thanked me over and over for coming to his aid and saving him from a big mistake and lost time.

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51

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Verena K.

Chris G.

A woman arrived at LA from oversees, but she had the wrong form when she approached the Customs/Immigration line. She was from Australia and she was sent back to get the correct form, which made her anxious. I could see her getting upset, and I engaged her to see if I could help. We got her the correct form, but when she got to the head of the line again, the inspector could not accept the form because it had a rental property’s address on it, not a proper street address in California. Again, I continued to engage her to let her know I was with her, and then I was proactive. Together she and I looked through her paperwork and found a telephone number. I used my cell phone to call the number and I got the valid street address for her destination, which allowed her to be processed into the country. It took a long time, but her thank you made it all worthwhile!

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50

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Anna H

Marivi M-F

A couple flying out of LA could not find the counter for their airline and because all the counters in the terminal were closed they suspected they were at the wrong terminal. I could see the confusion on their faces and I engaged them and approached them. They told me they had an evening flight, and when I checked their tickets I confirmed this and explained to them that’s why the counters were all closed, because they were so early. Clearly I saved them from getting more upset and anxious and they told me, “Thank you,” and said without me they would have been wandering around terminal to terminal.

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49

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Yesinia T.

Chris G.

A passenger arriving from overseas had been in the Customs line, but when it was his turn to be served he had the wrong forms. The passenger was sent to the Information Desk. He was supposed to have a connection to San Francisco to go international again and he was very upset that he would miss his connection. I apologized and offered to fill out his forms to make up time that way. Then I got permission to move him to the front of the line so he wouldn’t have to wait any longer. I calmed him down also by explaining to him that United flew to San Francisco every hour. If he did not make his flight, I had talked to the airline, explaining the situation, and they were engaging, too, and said they would book him on the next flight because he had an international flight. The passenger said thank you and knew it wasn’t my fault, but he was grateful I took charge, was proactive for him.

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48

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Marie A.

Chris G.

A lady was upset because her relative was stuck in Customs and she was afraid her family member would not get the medications she needed. The family, including the one who needed the medicine, was delayed in Customs and the upset woman who approached me could not contact them. She was completely in the dark and upset because she did not even know if her family member had actually landed at LAX. I was engaging and apologized for the delay. Then I checked and found out the reason for the delay and explained that everyone from the flight was OK and that the delays were because of computer difficulties. I took ownership of the problem, however, and was proactive and I found the family back in the Customs hall and personally got the medicine to the family member who needed it. Then, concerned with all the other people who did not know the reason for the delay, I got permission to make an announcement to everyone waiting that the computers were down but the problem was being addressed. People hate to be left in the dark, and I was proactive to fix that.

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47

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Chris G.

Paul H. and Viji P.

A young Vietnamese woman couldn’t find her meeting family when she arrived and she wandered around the Customs area frightened and upset. She did not speak English, but I calmed her with sign language and this worked. That gave me time to send our Vietnamese speaking VSR to talk to her. Our VSR told me that the young woman was supposed to arrive on American Airlines but came on a different carrier, and this was probably why her meeting family was not at Bradley. We took a guess that maybe the family was at American’s terminal and I got permission for the VSR to walk the young woman over to that terminal. Sure enough, that was the solution! The VSR witnessed a very tearful and emotional reunion and the meeting family said thank you a hundred times.

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46

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Karen S

Marlene T

A woman fell down in the terminal, and I hurried to help her. She was upset and anxious because she was rushing to catch a flight and worried now that she would miss her flight. I worked with her daughter to call First Aid to attend to her, then I worked with her daughter and a rep from their airline to make sure we could get her to her plane on time, while making sure she wasn’t injured from her fall. I was able to be an effective go between, and we made it all happen. The mother was cleared by First Aid to go, and we got her to her plane on time.

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45

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Yvonne L.

Marivi M.

An elderly lady was upset after she came out of the restroom at T 6 gate area and could not find her husband. I could see her crying and looking desperate and I was engaging and approached her. That calmed her, and she told me she could not find her husband. I asked her to retrace her steps and as she did she realized she had gone in the door at one end, but had come out the doors on the other side. We went back to the doors she had entered by and sure enough there was her husband waiting patiently. A small thing, but a huge thing to her – and she thanked me!

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44

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Lynda C.

Linda P-C

A passenger approached me in the Bradley arrivals area and was very upset because she had left her computer in the Customs area and could not figure out a way to get word back there and get her computer. Obviously she was nervous and getting increasingly upset as time kept going by. I was proactive and went to an airline rep for the airline the lady had flown in on, and found a rep. The rep worked with the passenger to get a solution and the lady turned to me and told me I was the most helpful person she had met all day!

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43

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Mariana V.

CHris G.

A passenger had a problem because they had left their carry on luggage in the Customs hall and they could not get back to retrieve it. I engaged the person and told them I would call back to the “FIS” area. I could not reach anyone, but I did not give up. I called my supervisor, Chris, and he was proactive and offered to go back to the area personally. It was the end of my shift and I needed to check out, but as luck would have it as I was walking by the customs area, I saw the bag the passenger had described to me. I showed it to a customs official. The official inspected it and cleared it, and that cleared the way for me to return the bag to the passenger, who was so very grateful.

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